The Human Rights Campaign ( HRC ) released its first round of endorsements and outlined plans to mobilize the GLBT vote in an April 28 conference call with reporters.
Perhaps the most controversial aspect was its failure to endorse Jim Neal, the openly gay candidate running in North Carolina for the Democratic nomination to the U.S. Senate, to take on incumbent Republican Elizabeth Dole.
'Our community there is rather split,' asserted Solmonese. He said HRC is waiting until after the May 3 primary to make a decision. Neal's opponent, while gay supportive, has been criticized by some within the community as hesitant to say so in public settings.
Neal is an investment banker and long time party activist and fund raiser in North Carolina. The national Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, headed up by Sen. Chuck Schumer ( New York ) , has tried to blackball Neal. The group officially stays neutral during primaries but that was called into question when it failed to even mention Neal as running for the nomination. Critics have called that antigay.
The 14 Senators HRC is endorsing are primarily Democratic incumbents who face a smooth reelection. Other include Mark Udall ( Colorado ) and Tom Udall ( New Mexico ) running for open seats, and Al Franken ( Minnesota ) and Jeanne Shaheen ( New Hampshire ) respectively taking on Republican incumbents Norm Coleman and John Sununu.
Susan Collins ( Maine ) is the only Republican on the list. Solmonese pointed out that she is a lead sponsor of the crown jewel of their legislative agenda, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act ( ENDA ) , and 'was a real leader in the hate crimes fight in the fall.'
But is HRC's endorsement anything more than a fig leaf to maintain the claim of being a bipartisan organization? When pressed on the resources they will be putting into Collin's race, Solmonese said, 'We haven't made a decision yet about what exactly we are going to do up there in terms of resources.'
HRC has declared 2008 the 'Year to Win' and is investing $7 million in mobilizing its 700,000 members, others within the GLBT community, and friends and allies in the election process.
'Camp Equality' will provide 'state-of-the-art campaign training for more than 1,500 participants in 13 cities' to help provided volunteers in targeted races. There was no word on whether camp will include show tunes.
