REACHING OUT | Dallas mayoral candidates, from left, Mike Rawlings, Ron Natinsky and David Kunkle listen to a speaker during the Dallas Gay and Lesbian Alliance PAC endorsements screenings. All three of the major candidates sought the DGLA endorsement, which eventually went to Natinsky. (David Taffet/Dallas Voice)
Organization’s list of endorsed candidates includes some significant difference compared to Stonewall Democrats’ list
DAVID TAFFET | Staff Writer
taffet@dallasvoice.com
Dallas Gay and Lesbian Alliance’s political action committee has released the list of candidates the PAC is backing in the upcoming Dallas city elections. Endorsed candidates include Ron Natinsky for mayor and Angela Hunt for City Council District 14.
Stonewall Democrats of Dallas had issued its endorsements earlier, and for the first time, the two lists differ considerably. DGLA is nonpartisan, whereas Stonewall’s bylaws allows that organization to only endorse Democrats.
Stonewall backed former police chief David Kunkle for mayor and James Nowlin against incumbent Hunt.
All three major candidates for mayor sought the backing of both groups. Natinsky withdrew his request from Stonewall when his eligibility was questioned because he is Republican.
At the time, Stonewall President Omar Narvaez pointed out that some of his group’s members supported Natinsky and he thanked the candidate for addressing their meeting.
DGLA has endorsed Natinsky previously in two of his council elections.
Mike Rawlings sought the endorsement of both groups, spoke at a Stonewall meeting and appeared at the DLGA candidate forum. Hoever, DGLA issued a warning along with its mayoral endorsement.
“Mr. Rawlings’ passion for commerce and business interests supremely overwhelms his appreciation for the civil rights of all people,” DGLA President Patti Fink wrote in her endorsement email.
The statement was crafted by the PAC, debated and approved, according to DLGA PAC Chair Damien Duckett. He said that the majority of time spent in deciding whom to endorse was spent on the mayor’s race.
“Our interviews are confidential,” Duckett said, “So we can’t divulge details of the conversation.”
But he said that after speaking to Rawlings, the whole group was left with a sense of frustration. Still, he called the endorsement in the mayor’s race a hard decision.
Neil Emmons is a Rawlings supporter who said he was surprised by the warning against his favored candidate.
“When he [Rawlings] came in on the homeless issue, he didn’t know anything about it. He studied, learned best practices and became the best advocate for The Bridge. That speaks volumes about who he is,” Emmons said. “And he did the same thing on the park board.”
Duckett disagreed.
“His work with the homeless didn’t have a lot to do with civil rights and GLBT equality as it relates to business,” he said.
Duckett said there was a painstaking process that took weeks before coming up with the endorsements. That included reviewing candidate questionnaires, interviews and a candidate forum.
“The three candidates represented different things to us,” he said.
Duckett said that Kunkle was an extraordinary man who’s had an impact on the city and identifies with neighborhoods. He called Rawlings the CEO-type who would be great for economic development.
But Natinsky “seemed like the perfect marriage of both of those,” Duckett said. “He has the experience to hit the ground running. He already has a presence in the community. So many of the qualities we were looking for.”
Both Stonewall and DLGA did agree on some council races. Both are backing Pauline Medrano in District 2 and Scott Griggs in District 3. In the last election, DGLA supported District 3 incumbent Dave Neumann.
Duckett said that DGLA addressed charges that Medrano opponent Billy MacLeod has leveled, claiming yard signs have been stolen and contributors intimidated with city inspections.
Duckett called Griggs “a genuine guy who has the experience to understand the complexities of the district and ideas on how to develop the southern sector.”
DGLA endorsed Luis Sepulveda in District 6 while Stonewall threw its support to Monica Alonzo.
Duckett said Sepulveda has been involved in important quality-of-life issues in the district for decades. He also cited Sepulveda’s previous public service as a justice of the peace and involvement in social justice issues as reasons the group threw their support to him.
Both organizations endorsed Casie Pierce in District 7. Pierce, who is lesbian, is challenging incumbent Carolyn Davis, who did not seek either group’s backing.
For District 10, DGLA backed Jerry Allen, whom they have supported in the past. Stonewall endorsed Cynthia Durbin. Duckett said they would have liked to talk to Durbin more, but she arrived late for her candidate’s screening on a day that was booked and she did not attend the public candidates’ forum.
For District 12, DGLA made no endorsement because William Tsao did not come to his interview. He attended the DGLA candidate’s forum and had already received Stonewall’s nod.
Duckett said the endorsement for District 14 was easy and handled quickly. He called Angela Hunt someone who has worked hard to represent the LGBT community.
In that race, Stonewall endorsed Nowlin in a close vote.
Three other candidates received endorsements from DGLA in races where Stonewall did not endorse. DLGA is backing Sheffie Kadane in District 9, Linda Koop in District 11 and Ann Margolin in District 13. All three are incumbents and all have appeared in Dallas’ gay Pride parade.
Duckett mentioned that Margolin has attended Log Cabin Republican of Dallas events. Log Cabin does not make endorsements in non-partisan races.
I received these two corrections from Damien:
DGLA has never before supported Jerry Allen. The reason why this is important to note is because he never came in before. And the fact that he did come in this time and his reason for doing so showed a great deal of personal growth for this incumbent.
In referring to William Tsao you say “he did not come to his interview” But that’s because he actually never scheduled one. So he didn’t have one to come to/miss.
Thanks for the update, Damien. Although Tsao did not schedule an interview, he did attend the forum and was the only candidate in that race to attend.
Damien’s assertion that Mike Rawlings’ work on behalf of the homeless having little to do with GLBT issues reveals Damien’s lack of perspective on the larger picture of human rights and human dignity. Mr. Rawlings’ successes in this area is manifested by the construction of the Bridge, the city’s homeless shelter, built with more than 50% private philanthropic funds and the envy of most other major cities. Mike has consistently expressed his support of GLBT issues, legal protections and benefits. His accomplishments on behalf of the most marginalized and voiceless among us speaks volumes about his compassion and his tenacity. He has repeatedly affirmed that we in the GLBT community will have an advocate and friend at City Hall when he is elected.
While I respect the views of Mr. Rawlings’ supporters and can certainly understand their desire to see the candidate they work hard for elected, I can only say that the image they portray of Mr. Rawlings is in no way near the image Mr. Rawlings portrayed of himself during the entirety of DGLA’s PAC process. Should Mr. Rawlings win the election one can only hope that the image put forth of him by his supporters is in fact a true representation of his character. But the DGLA PAC was only able to come to the conclusion they came to based on Mr. Rawlings own words and his own characterization of his views of equality.
Ron should have had no problem with getting an endorsement from Stonewall. The Stonewall Democrats have endorsed James. Nolwin this time around in District 14. While his Dallas Voter record shows no democratic history, he has a Republican Primary Voting record under voter ID # 000030053936 in Durham North Carolina. So, either Stonewall does not follow their own bylaws or Ron should have been eligible for an endorsement.