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Wednesday, October 12, 2005

CA-26: David Dreier, the GOP, and a Re-Election Challenge

Posted by Bob Brigham

During the few brief hours David Dreier was Republican Majority Leader, there was speculation that Dreier was gay. Actually, for a long time it has been conventional wisdom among insiders that Dreier is in fact gay. Now, it is is coming out that Dreier is not Majority Leader because of this scandal.

California congressman David Dreier (R-CA) was passed over to replace House Majority Leader Tom DeLay in part because of questions about his sexuality, a congressman and several reporters told RAW STORY this week.

Dreier was expected to replace DeLay after the tough-talking Texan was indicted for conspiracy to violate campaign finance laws. After being rebuffed, media reports indicated that conservatives were upset about the congressman’s “moderate positions.”

But several Washington reporters and an openly gay congressman say Dreier’s views were not the ultimate factor, asserting that speculation the Republican was gay played a major role in derailing his nomination.

This crazy episode made Dreier look pretty weak in his home district. And now that the cat is out of the bag, Dreier won't be able to count on the conservative base if he ends up in a tight race.

A dispatch from a Swing State Project source in southern California indicates that Congressman Dreier can look forward to a challenge in 2006. Not only a challenge, but a challenge by a Democrat with a story to tell and resources to invest...Dreier came so close, but the GOP homophobia caught up with him and now he might even lose his seat in congress. Here is some more background on CA-26

John Aravosis has more on GOP Closet Heterosexuals.

Posted at 04:37 PM in 2006 Elections - House, California, Republicans, Scandals | Technorati

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Comments

Amazing how long it takes for the big fellas to catch up.

Here's a dKos post I made advocating a Cal 26th takedown on Nov 17th 2004.
Enjoy
It's based entirely on facts of the campaigns and the election stats of the last 3 cycles. Da Man is vulnerable. And lots of us in CA know it even if the rest are just figuring it out.

Welcome to the party! It should be fun.

Posted by: Stuart O'Neill at October 12, 2005 06:01 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

The 2004 election was a close call for Dreier. In fact it was the closest call for any California incumbant of either party. Against an unknown, under-financed lesbian Democrat (unlike Dreier, an out-of-the-closet gay), Dreier garnered only 53.7% of the vote, the lowest of any incumbant and tied for the smallest victory in any Congressional race in the state (with Jim Costa, a Democrat winning an open seat). Dreier's is a moderate suburban district where his sex life isn't going to hurt him much. But what may hurt him is the corruption involved in putting his grossly overpaid lover on the payroll and taking him all over the world at the taxpayers' expense-- and I don't mean Afghanistan and Iraq, but places like Italia, Espana, Polynesia, Iceland, Sri Lanka-- all the gay hotspots.

Posted by: DownWithTyranny at October 13, 2005 12:27 AM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment