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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: DuckTapeSunroof who wrote (748325)	8/27/2006 2:16:39 PM
From: Hope Praytochange	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769667

Head Democrats in Ala. Restore White Nominee By Zachary A. Goldfarb Special to The Washington Post Sunday, August 27, 2006; Page A04 A battle over race that had divided Alabama's Democratic Party came to an end yesterday when the party's executive committee reinstated a white woman as its nominee to represent a historically black Birmingham district in the state legislature. The nominee, Patricia Todd, is a lesbian and, because she faces no opponent in November's general election, is in line to become the state's first gay legislator. Who's Blogging? Read what bloggers are saying about this article. African-American (Black) Opinion.com African-American (Black) Opinion.com Capitol Hill Blue: The Oldest Political News Site on the Internet Full List of Blogs (11 links) » Most Blogged About Articles On washingtonpost.com \| On the web Save & Share Tag This Article Saving options 1. Save to description: Headline (required) Byline 2. Save to notes (255 character max): Blurb 3. Tag This Article On Thursday, she had been disqualified by a party panel for failing to comply with a technicality that candidates had disregarded for years. "I'm just relieved," Todd said yesterday. "The democratic process worked today." Yesterday's decision has its roots in a June primary in which Todd received more votes than four other candidates, all of whom were black. In a July 18 runoff, she defeated businesswoman Gaynell Hendricks by 59 votes. Allies of Hendricks then challenged Todd's nomination, arguing she had not met a deadline set in the party's bylaws for the filing of campaign finance disclosure forms. The allies -- led by Hendricks's mother-in-law -- suggested that Todd missed the deadline intentionally, to delay disclosing that she'd made campaign payments to two primary opponents who later endorsed her and that she'd received thousands of dollars in contributions from the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, a Washington-based organization that backs gay candidates. Among those opposed to Todd's candidacy was Joe L. Reed, the state party's vice chairman of minority affairs. He called on voters to elect another black person to replace George Perdue, who has represented the district for more than two decades. The campaign finance rule had not been enforced since 1988. Nevertheless, a five-person panel voted to disqualify Todd -- and Hendricks -- as candidates to be the party's nominee. The final decision, though, was up to a full vote yesterday of the party executive committee. It rejected the panel's decision, 95 to 87. The vote "was largely on racial lines," but "there was some crossover," said Jim Spearman, the executive director of the state party and a Todd supporter. Hendricks and Reed could not be reached yesterday for comment. Reed had earlier told reporters that through the challenge he was just trying to enforce a party rule. While Alabama is on the brink of installing its first gay legislator, Spearman said Todd's sexual orientation did not play a major role in the controversy. "More than anything, it has been about the fact that this was a historically black district in downtown Birmingham," he said. Yet the issue of her sexuality was not absent, Todd said. "It was definitely there in the weekend before the runoff," she said. "There was a smear sheet that was distributed in the black community that was very homophobic and called me a lot of names. . . . There was an attempt to suggest to black voters I was a gay activist and that was my agenda." Chuck Wolfe, president of the Victory Fund, said yesterday that his group simply aimed to "ensure Patricia had a level playing field and a fair chance to show that a qualified, committed public servant" could be elected. Todd is the director of development at AIDS Alabama, a support group for people living with HIV and AIDS.