Today, Equality PA, a state-wide LGBT Rights organization issued their candidate endorsements. This is the first time this organization has undertaken an endeavor like this.

“This was a terrific process with a strong pool of interested candidates from which to select,” noted board president, Brian Sims.  “We used questionnaires and interviews to come to our decisions, and I think our endorsements provide a unique mix of candidates from across the political spectrum and state.  The goal of Equality Pennsylvania is to help elect LGBT people and allies to office everywhere.  This is just the beginning.”

Endorsed candidates include:

• Det Ansinn – Bucks County Commissioner, Democrat
• Geoffrey Brace – Lehigh County Commissioner, Democrat
• Kathryn Boockvar – Judge, Commonwealth Court, Democrat
• John C. Campbell – Harrisburg City Treasurer, Democrat
• Dan Clifford – Judge, 38th Judicial District, Republican
• Sherrie Cohen – Philadelphia City Council, At Large, Democrat
• Geraldine Delevich – New Hope Borough Council, Democrat
• Diane M. Ellis Marseglia – Bucks County Commissioner, Democrat
• Jeanette Eichenwald – Allentown City Council, Democrat
• Casey Evans – Luzerne County Council, Democrat
• Michael Fedor – Cumberland County Commissioner, Democrat
• Joe Grace – Philadelphia City Council, First District, Democrat
• Gloria L. Hamm – Lehigh County Commissioner, At Large, Democrat
• Brad Koplinski – Harrisburg City Council, Democrat
• Malcolm Lazin – Philadelphia City Council, At Large, Republican
• Hugh F. McGough – Magisterial District Judge for Magisterial District 05-2-35 (Pittsburgh), Democrat
• Lucille Prater-Holliday – Pittsburgh City Council, District 9, Democrat
• Marlene Pray – Doylestown Borough Council, Ward 1, Democrat
• Blondell Reynolds Brown – Philadelphia City Council, At Large, Democrat
• Peter G. Schweyer – Allentown City Council, Democrat
• Elinor Warner – Easton City Council, At Large

Pittsburghers may be surprised that several anticipated names are missing from the list such as Bruce Kraus, an openly gay city council member seeking re-election. I’d have liked to see Patrick Dowd, who is also seeking city council re-election and who clearly deserves the LGBT vote. It is unclear if these candidates submitted questionnaires and were not selected or were not even considered. While Hugh McGough is well deserving, he is also a close friend to Equality PA.

I would encourage any LGBT voters across Pennsylvania to consider this slate of endorsements, but do not rely only upon it. The Liberty City Democratic Club and the Steel City Stonewall Democrats Club also issued endorsements, and may have done a better job soliciting questionnaires and assuring a thorough review.

But congratulations to Equality PA for this new endeavor, and a good start. One hopes that over time, the list will be more thorough and cover more of the entire state, but still it is a good beginning.

Steel City Stonewall Democrat’s Endorsements

The Liberty City Democrats endorsement meeting in this Thursday.

Added: Mark Segal’s  column about Philadelphia’s 1st District