by Eric Rader
As the election season heats up, it's important that all of us in the LGBT community pay close attention to which individuals and groups are supporting the candidates for various public offices. Every candidate touts her or his endorsements in campaign literature, especially when that support comes from high-profile officeholders or groups. Candidates seek out these critical endorsements in an effort to give themselves credibility with the electorate.
This effort is of particular importance this year, with an election ballot that is very crowded with candidates and issues.
There are a total of six candidates (two Democrats and four Republicans) running to be their respective party's candidate for governor of Michigan. Voters can have a hard time making a decision when there are so many candidates competing for their attention. While a candidate's goal in releasing a list of endorsements is to boost his or her campaign, these testimonials can also be used by informed voters as a litmus test of the candidate's true ideology and beliefs.
Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-Holland) recently announced that two Michigan state senators have endorsed his bid for the Republican nomination for governor: Alan Cropsey (R-DeWitt) and Valde Garcia (R-Howell). Sens. Cropsey and Garcia are two of the most right-wing and anti-LGBT members of the Michigan legislature.
Sen. Cropsey was one of the early initiators of the effort to amend the Michigan Constitution to ban gay marriage, a process that culminated in Proposal 2, the amendment that bans legal recognition of same-sex unions in our state. Sen. Garcia was once a co-sponsor of anti-bullying legislation in the Michigan legislature, but took his name off the bill when his conservative supporters alerted him to the fact that the bill would include sexual orientation and gender identity as protected categories.
In a press release, Rep. Hoekstra "wholeheartedly" welcomed the two senators' endorsement of his gubernatorial candidacy. What's more: Hoekstra is currently the frontrunner for the Republican nomination.
Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox (R-Livonia) has earned the endorsement of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in his campaign for governor of Michigan. Huckabee ran a folksy – and losing -campaign for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008. Earlier this year, Huckabee made a public statement in which he equated gay marriage with incest, polygamy and drug abuse.
It is not surprising that Cox would welcome support from Huckabee, since Cox himself supported Michigan's anti-gay marriage amendment. Once the amendment was approved by voters, Cox issued a legal interpretation indicating his view that the amendment prevented any public institution in the state from offering domestic partner benefits to its employees. This view goes far beyond what supporters of the proposal purported the measure to be, though many in our community were rightly worried that the amendment was about much more than "protecting" marriage.
No matter how much Cox may try to appeal to mainstream voters in his gubernatorial quest, it is clear that he and his supporters hold extreme right-wing values.
In addition to paying attention to the endorsements in the race for Michigan governor, voters should look at the political activities of ultra-conservative organizations.
The American Family Association of Michigan is actively involved in fighting the LGBT community on a number of fronts, including the anti-bullying legislation in the Michigan legislature.
Recent national polls also indicate that a majority of so-called "tea party" adherents hold homophobic views; a recent Detroit Free Press poll in Michigan reveals that the tea party movement has significant support among voters in our state. A number of the Republican candidates for governor, including Hoekstra and Cox, are actively seeking the support of the "tea partiers."
It's crucial that the LGBT community monitor which groups and individuals are supporting which candidates in this year's elections, not just for governor, but up and down the ballot. No one gives his or her endorsement lightly, and a list of a candidate's supporters says a lot about what he or she would do if given the chance to govern. All of us who care about equality should do our homework before we cast our ballots this August and November. Indeed, the endorsement that matters the most is the one we make on Election Day.
