I'd just like to brag on Kentucky, which nominated an openly gay man to run against Rand Paul.
There's not much talk about Jim Gray, Democratic mayor of Lexington and openly gay senate candidate in Kentucky. Understandably, he's not a national figure, and the odds are steep against him this fall: Rand Paul commands name recognition, incumbency, and significant fundraising. This is Rand Paul's race to lose. Besides, Kentucky has trended red for nearly 20 years now.
But I just want to say how exceptionally proud I am that in this red state, our Democratic party has nominated a gay man for Senate. Kentucky was one of the many states in 2004 that shamefully passed same sex marriage bans. Gray is the mayor of my hometown, and I would be one proud Kentuckian to send him to Washington.
Kentucky is a fucking weird state politically. We often vote for Democrats at the local level (Steve Beshear was a very popular Democratic governor), but we are consistently killed in the U.S. Senate and House races. Sadly, an abysmal turnout led to our current clown Governor Matt Bevin. The Kentucky Democratic machine used to be reliably powered by coal mining unions, but the Republicans' knack for using wedge cultural issues and convincing poor and middle class people to vote against their own economic interests has changed the landscape here.
It may be a long road to turn Kentucky blue, and Jim Gray may be pissing into the wind this fall, but I'll be damned if I'm not proud of what we've done in the meantime. I don't suspect he'll have a lot of support from the national organizations, but please check him out and see what you can do to support us: http://grayforkentucky.com/
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