News
Fong Defeats Issa
Crossover Vote in GOP Primary As High As 21%
(WASHINGTON, DC) – After holding a steady lead and outspending his opponents by
overwhelming margins, Darrell Issa was defeated in yesterday's Republican
primary for U.S. Senate only days after resorting to gay-bashing in his
campaign. The defeat was the latest disaster for far right activists James
Dobson and Gary Bauer and their Campaign for Working Families PAC.
Issa, who was endorsed by CWF PAC, attacked his opponent, State Treasurer
Matt Fong (R), last week for receiving the endorsement of Log Cabin
Republicans of California, a gay Republican state organization. As a
result, Log Cabin mobilized gay and lesbian voters statewide to cast their
ballots for Fong in the Republican primary to send a message that
gay-bashing will lose at the polls. Fong stood by the Log Cabin
endorsement, which headlined a Log Cabin campaign ad in the gay and lesbian
press.
Fong defeated Issa 45% to 40% in late election results. KCRA-TV (NBC) in
Sacramento reported that 21% of the total votes cast in the GOP Senate
primary were from non-Republicans, crossing over to vote in the state's
first open primary. Election results show that Fong handily won in Los
Angeles and San Francisco, which have the highest concentration of gay and
lesbian voters in the state. A statewide analysis of the county-by-county
results showed that high-density gay areas made up half of Fong's total
margin of victory in the Republican primary.
The Issa defeat was the latest in a series of Republican primary defeats
for Dobson and Bauer, who have poured millions of dollars into the
campaigns of far-right candidates, challenging mainstream and inclusive
Republican candidates in primary elections across the country.
"Matt Fong was the candidate of integrity and inclusion, and Darrell Issa
proved that gay-bashing loses at the polls," said Richard Tafel, executive
director of Log Cabin Republicans. "Unless the Republican leadership wants
to write off California in future national campaigns, they had better wake
up and listen to the voters."
"This victory is yet another vindication for Log Cabin, and proves that a
party of inclusion wins while a party of exclusion will lose," Tafel said.
"Now we have the best chance of beating Barbara Boxer in November with Matt
Fong as our nominee."