By Karen Ocamb and Denise Penn

The outcome was not unexpected. After all, state Treasurer Phil Angelides had once chaired the California Democratic Party and most of the state's elected Democrats support his run for governor, including all but one of the LGBT Caucus. The day before the April 29 endorsement vote in Sacramento, however, the Democratic convention was abuzz with the latest Los Angeles Times poll showing state Controller Steve Westly, Angelides' primary opponent, with a 13-point lead over Angelides and a nine-point lead in a match-up against Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

With just weeks to go before the June 6 primary, convention Democrats wrestled over which candidate best represents Democratic values and which could best defeat Schwarzenegger. Many angry progressives, meanwhile, preferred to focus on bashing President George W. Bush over rising gas prices and the war in Iraq (the number of American dead reached 2,402 on April 29; 70 died in April alone, according to the Pentagon. May 1 marks three years since Bush declared, "Iraq is free" under a "Mission Accomplished" banner).

In the end, 1,195 delegates gave Angelides, the party "establishment" candidate, 67.2 percent of the vote, widely surpassing the 60 percent needed for an endorsement. Westly got 28.1 percent with 500 votes and 83 delegates voting not to endorse either candidate.

"This weekend was really the start of the playoffs," Angelides told reporters. "You know a lot of teams make it through the regular season, but who wins is determined by the playoff season. In the first game of this playoff season, I'm very proud to have scored this victory."

Noting the Times poll, Westly suggested the endorsement might be inside baseball while he appealed to many outside the convention. "We've got, I think, the momentum in this election," Westly told reporters. "I think the story coming out of this weekend will be this simple fact: I'm now leading my opponent by 13 points in this race."

"It was no surprise that Phil Angelides, a career Sacramento insider and former chair of the California Democratic Party, and a man who's campaigned for governor for years, won the party endorsement. But it's clear, based upon the latest polls and the energy among our supporters, that Steve Westly has the big momentum in this race, and that Steve Westly is the Democrats' strongest challenger to Governor Schwarzenegger," Nick Velasquez, Westley's openly gay press secretary, told IN Los Angeles magazine.

Angelides, who is strongly supported by Assemblymember Mark Leno, author of the marriage equality bill, picked up steam among LGBT voters going into the convention with an endorsement from the San Francisco-based Harvey Milk Club and an earlier endorsement from the Alice B. Toklas Democratic Club. (The non-gay identified West Hollywood Democratic Club also endorsed Angelides.)

Westly, who is strongly supported by state Sen. Carole Migden, went into the convention endorsed by the sizable Stonewall Democratic Club of Greater Sacramento and the Orange County Eleanor Roosevelt Stonewall Democratic Club. On April 24, after an aggressive grassroots effort that overwhelmed a phoned-in endorsement from traveling Angelides supporter state Sen. Sheila Kuehl, Westly won the L.A. Stonewall Democratic Club endorsement 75-25.

At the convention's LGBT Caucus, tightly run by Chair Gloria Johnson (an Angelides supporter), Angelides was introduced by Leno. "We have accomplished so much. We can honestly say that full LGBT civil rights is now a core moral value. But the purpose of bringing the family of Democrats together this weekend is to choose who will be our representative on the ballot in November: Phil Angelides stands for core Democratic values," Leno said.

"We have an opportunity to make history in California," Angelides told the LGBT Caucus. "I will build a coalition and that will put California on the right side of history and I will sign a marriage equality bill. I am here with my own family -- my wife, Julie and my three beautiful daughters -- and I want every Californian to be able to have the love and support of a family recognized by law, as I have enjoyed."

Migden introduced Westly. "My name is Carole Migden and I am proud to stand here with the man who will defeat Arnold Schwarzenegger," she said.

"I want to be the best governor for the LGBT community that California or any state has ever had. I am not a Johnny-come-lately to this stand: In 1977 I ran for student body president of Stanford University on a gay rights plank, and let me tell you -- it wasn't popular back then," Westly told the LGBT Caucus. "When I become governor, I will not only be for these issues in California. I will be on the bully pulpit around the country until we have true parity and equality for all LGBT households."

Introduced on the convention floor by House of Representatives Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), who called him "a leader for progressive change," Angelides was pumped. "Who can you count on to stop the Bush-Schwarzenegger assault on our values? Who can you count on to be a champion for hard-working families of this state -- no matter the politics or poll numbers?" he said. "This is about more than a political campaign. It's about winning a victory for Democratic values that will ripple across the nation. And this year, in this gubernatorial election, I don't believe we serve those values by turning ourselves into Arnold Lite,"

"Arnold Lite" is a familiar reference to Westly, whom many Democrats feel betrayed the party by campaigning with Schwarzenegger for two deficit restructuring measures, Propositions 57 and 58, in 2004. Angelides opposed the initiatives and at the convention blasted Democrats "who tried to accommodate Arnold Schwarzenegger, to bow down to his early burst of popularity." Angelides said he didn't "stick a finger in the wind" or "weigh the politics of taking him on" he "stood up to" Schwarzenegger, earning him the title of the "anti-Arnold."

Westly, co-introduced on the floor by Migden, explained that the voter-passed Proposition 57 was essentially a Democratic measure authored by Long Beach Assemblymember Jenny Oropeza to avoid a shut down of schools and backed by organized labor, U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer (Angelides campaign co-chairs), and Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez.

"You don't stand up to the governor by standing on the backs of school kids," Westly said. At an early forum he said that the only other major opponent to the measure beside Angelides was conservative Republican state Sen. Tom McClintock, who is now Schwarzenegger's "running mate" seeking the lieutenant governor seat, according to the Times. Westly, also a longtime Democratic activist, argued that he "stood up against Governor Schwarzenegger" over school cuts, among other issues.

Unlike Angelides, Westly mentioned LGBT issues during his convention floor speech. "(I'm) proud to have helped LGBT couples get tax equality from the Board of Equalization," Westly told the delegates. "I believe in a California that protects a woman's right to choose -- and keeps the government out of our bedrooms. I believe that any two people who want to get married should be celebrated -- not treated as second-class citizens."

Westly also stressed the need for both candidates to sign a "positive campaign pledge," saying Democrats should "focus on beating up Arnold, not beating up each other." Angelides has not signed the pledge. Many Democrats are now concerned that the two candidates will "go negative" in their campaign ads, leaving the primary victor weakened for the race against Schwarzenegger.

In another endorsement battle, L.A. City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo pulled off a major upset when he kept Oakland Mayor and former Gov. Jerry Brown from getting the required 60 percent of the vote for the party's endorsement in the attorney general race. "The attorney general defends the law and within that context lies the foundation that provides the basis for marriage equality," Brown told the LGBT Caucus. "The legal foundation is there under the 14th Amendment," he told IN. Delgadillo, who flatly told Stonewall Democrats that he supports marriage equality, told the LGBT Caucus: "My parents didn't name me Rocky for nothing -- I am not afraid to get into the ring."

The June 6 primary has LGBT politicos worried for other reasons as well. "There is a strong possibility that the California state Senate will become more conservative as business interests finance moderate Democrats over liberal Democrats in contested primaries," Equality California board President John Duran told IN. "This could present us with additional hurdles for our marriage equality bill."

Additionally, Assemblymember Jackie Goldberg told the LGBT Caucus she is concerned about the future of the LGBT Legislative Caucus because of term limits. "This is my final year in the legislature and I just want to thank all of you for the support you have given us," Goldberg said. "But there is a real danger: I am termed out this year and by 2008 the LGBT Legislative Caucus will consist of only two." Five legislators are needed to be officially recognized as a legislative caucus.