By Karen Ocamb

To no one's surprise, the sprint to the June 6 primary among candidates who are running neck and neck in the polls has turned nasty in the final stretch. From the race to be the Democratic gubernatorial candidate opposing Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in November to the winner-take-all contest to replace termed-out Assemblymember Paul Koretz in the 42nd District, mud-slinging charges of corruption and unethical behavior overshadow the previously positive campaigns. Nonetheless, the 2006 elections, both statewide and nationally, are shaping up to be a critical referendum on the direction the state and country are going.

As usual, it all comes down to voter turnout. Many of the races for the California Assembly's 80 seats and the 20 seats up in the state Senate will be decided in the primary because of partisan redistricting. Equality California (EQCA) has gone all-out to support candidates who risked their political careers by voting for the marriage equality bill Schwarzenegger vetoed, as well as supporting other pro-gay candidates. (See a complete list of endorsed candidates at www.eqca.org.)

“People seem very engaged in talking about the races and voting in a way I haven't seen in a primary election. They see it as a very important election, not just because of California but the nation. People are very unhappy about the direction in which the country is going,” EQCA Executive Director Geoff Kors told IN Los Angeles magazine.

EQCA's political action committee will drop 100,000 mailers statewide, in addition to phone banking and a volunteer effort. EQCA PAC is also targeting six particular races, Kors said, including openly lesbian Elena Popp in the 45th Assembly District to replace termed-out Jackie Goldberg and openly gay Ron Oden in the 80th Assembly District. The two seats are considered imperative wins to keep the state LGBT Caucus from dissolving as a result of term limits.

It is possible that the LGBT vote could be critical in the June 6 primary. A Public Policy Institute of California statewide poll released May 25 found one-third of likely voters were undecided when asked to chose between Democratic gubernatorial candidates Phil Angelides and Steve Westly. The poll showed Angelides with 35 percent to Westly's 32 percent -- a statistical dead heat. "They haven't given Democrats one reason to go to the polls," Democratic consultant Gale Kaufman told Los Angeles Times columnist George Skelton

One reason for LGBT voters to go to the polls, however, may be to pick the man they think can best defeat Schwarzenegger. Despite recent pro-gay overtures such as keynoting a Log Cabin benefit and hiring openly lesbian Democrat Susan Kennedy as his chief of staff, Schwarzenegger is still not forgiven in many LGBT circles for vetoing the historic marriage equality bill. In addition, now comes the revelation that he intends to veto state Sen. Sheila Kuehl's curriculum bill, currently making its way through the Assembly.

“The governor believes that school curriculum should include all important historical figures, regardless of orientation," Schwarzenegger's Director of Communications Adam Mendelsohn, told the Sacramento Bee May 25. "However, he does not support the Legislature micromanaging curriculum."

“The governor is once again playing politics with our lives as he did last year [with the veto of the marriage equality bill], choosing to announce a veto of an LGBT rights bill in a desperate attempt to turn out right-wing voters just days before an election,” Kors told IN. He suspects that Schwarzenegger's breaking with his own policy of not commenting on bills before they reach his desk is an attempt to shore up support for Republican Brian Bilbray in the nasty, neck and neck special election against Democrat Francine Busby for Randy “Duke” Cunningham's seat in the 50th Congressional District. According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, the National Republican Congressional Committee ran “a sleazy smear campaign” with a TV attack ad “that portrays Busby as a defender of teachers who engage in child pornography.”

Kuehl's bill, SB 147, has received national attention, with some conservatives saying it would “mandate” the teaching of homosexuality in public schools. “I was, frankly, surprised by the national attention to SB 1437 as the sections of the code it amended dated back all the way to 1968,” Kuehl told IN. “In those sections, no officially adopted teaching materials, including classroom instruction, may reflect adversely on people on the basis of race, gender, etc. Also, when teaching social studies, materials must reflect the roles and contributions of African Americans, Mexican Americans, Asian Pacific, Native Americans, men, women, [and other] various ethnic groups. To each we add sexual orientation/LGBT,” to provide role models and information about such LGBT historical figures as Walt Whitman and James Baldwin.

Kuehl hasn't yet spoken with Schwarzenegger about his prospective veto and is proceeding with making sure the bill is passed. "He hasn't made up his mind, I don't care what some underling might have said," Kuehl told the Bee. "I expect it to go before the (Assembly) education committee, perhaps then the appropriations committee. When it gets to the floor, I expect to talk to the governor and I expect to get it through. For them to take a position on it, I think is precipitous. There's nothing controversial about it. The right wing has drummed up a lot of old fears. Once people understand what it really does, the response is usually OK." She expects Schwarzenegger to be OK with it, once he "understands how small a change it is."

Randy Thomasson, the president of the Campaign for Children and Families who failed to qualify an anticipated anti-gay ballot initiative, wants more. "We're very pleased that Schwarzenegger is listening to the concerns of parents," Thomasson said. "Now the governor needs to pledge to veto the two remaining transsexual, bisexual, homosexual bills, AB 606 [to reduce LGBT student harassment] and AB 1056 [school grants to promote tolerance]. Parents and grandparents are demanding it."

Votes on the marriage equality bill have become central to many nasty campaigns, even on the national level. Longtime civil rights and LGBT equality supporter Congressman Bob Filner (CA-51), for instance, is facing a tough primary challenge from termed-out Assemblyman Juan Vargas, one of five Democrats who voted against marriage equality. For more information, go to www.bobfilnerforcongress.com. One of the other Democrat “no” votes came from Assemblymember Joe Baca Jr. who is in a tight race with Assemblymember Gloria Negrete McLeod, a “yes” vote, for Nell Soto's Senate District 32 seat. Assemblymember Tom Umberg, another “yes” vote, is in an extremely tight, nasty race in Garden Grove for Senate District 34 against anti-gay Supervisor Lou Correa.

Another race of vital interest and much controversy is the contest between Assemblymembers Judy Chu and Jerome Horton for the Board of Equalization. Though Koretz supports Horton, EQCA has made Chu's race a priority since Horton abstained -- “the same as a “no” vote,” says Kors -- on the marriage equality bill while Chu has introduced LGBT legislation.

Another race of particular interest to the LGBT community is between solidly pro-gay Assemblymember Cindy Montañez and gay-friendly Los Angeles City Councilman Alex Padilla in the San Fernando Valley's Senate District 20. According to Montañez spokesperson Steve Veres, a Motor Dealers Association has directed almost $200,000 in independent expenditures to Padilla's campaign, in response to the Montañez-authored consumer protection Car Buyers Bill of Rights Bill.

But perhaps the race attracting the most attention in the LGBT community is between West Hollywood City Councilmember Abbe Land and former L.A. City Councilmember Mike Feuer. At first the contest to replace Koretz seemed fairly respectable, with Land and Feuer showing up at Stonewall Democratic Club events and heavily and sincerely vying for the club's endorsement -- which Land won. (For more information, go to http://www.stonewall-dems.org.) But with just weeks to go, a whisper campaign turned into an outright smear campaign with Feuer supporters calling Land “corrupt” and “unethical,” saying that Land took money from people with business before the City Council and then voted on their issues.

Jeff Prang, who serves with Land on the City Council, called the allegations “absolutely untrue. It's absurd to allege that Abbe has done anything wrongful -- she has not. She is one of the most principled and ethical elected officials there is. This is just disgusting.”

Kuehl agrees. “I think Feuer's attacks are despicable and even worse -- when he says they are not coming from him but does not disavow them,” Kuehl told IN. “It shows how desperate he is and how ill prepared he is to serve in the Assembly. No one who knows Abbe takes any of them seriously. I can only hope the voters in the 42nd [District] understand what a clear choice they have, between Feuer, who has shown no restraint or devotion to the truth in his campaign, and Abbe, who is the only one truly qualified and mature enough to serve in the Legislature.”

But the biggest contest is the Democratic nomination to be the gubernatorial candidate who faces Schwarzenegger in November. EQCA and Stonewall Democratic Club, among other LGBT organizations, are supporting and working hard for State Controller Steve Westly. EQCA, in particular, was disappointed in the interview with State Treasurer Phil Angelides, a longtime liberal Democrat and gay supporter (endorsed by Kuehl and most of the LGBT Caucus). Though both candidates pledge to sign a marriage equality bill if it reaches their desk, Angelides failed another EQCA criteria -- which was to endorse only candidates who voted for or support marriage equality. Angelides is supporting Horton over Chu and Baca over McLeod.

On a positive side, EQCA points out, Westly has been pro-gay since his college days at Stanford University when he ran for class president in 1977 and included a gay rights plank in his platform. “Folks I'm hearing from in the community are very supportive of our endorsement of Westly,” Kors said, “because, when you look at his record, clearly civil rights and the rights of LGBT individuals is a fundamental tenant of why he's in office and what he believes. He would never let politics or pressure result in his not doing the right thing.”

Additionally, Kors says, Schwarzenegger pledged to support LGBT equality when he ran for office. But he's vetoed two important LGBT bills -- marriage equality and adding sexual orientation to the campaign practices pledge -- and now threatens to veto a third. “It's three strikes and you're out,” Kors said. “It's time for our community to replace the governor now that he has his third strike.”

It is unclear whether the L.A. Times or the Field Poll will conduct exit polling that includes sexual orientation, but Kors said EQCA will compare the voter files with the near one million voter IDs they have on file to try to gauge LGBT voter turnout.

The Westly Bus Tour will be coming to the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) on 8714 Santa Monica Blvd. in West Hollywood on Sunday, June 4, from 3:30-5:30 p.m. to meet LGBT voters. To find out more about Westly, go to www.westly2006.com.

The Angelides campaign was asked if they planned to make similar stops targeting LGBT voters, but as of press time, no one has responded. Read more about Angelides at www.angelides.com.

The Log Cabin Republican Club made no endorsements by press time. For more information, go to www.logcabin.org/logcabinca/index.html.