Downeast Pride Alliance Backs Rowe
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Steven Rowe received an endorsement today from the Downeast Pride Alliance (DEPA). DEPA strives to promote LGBT businesses and create a network of LGBT professionals, according to their website.
The Downeast Pride Alliance had this to say on their endorsement of Steven Rowe:
“I truly believe that no one will work harder for our interest than Steve! As the former Attorney General, Steve has a long history of being a strong advocate for the LGBTQ community. He whole-heartedly supports marriage equality & will work to defeat any repeal efforts. He was critical for us in winning gay adoption and is also a huge supporter of our small business community. At our first event, Steve was with us supporting DEPA a year ago at the Portland Harbor Hotel.”
With this endorsement we can rule out another potential gubernatorial candidate. Senator Dennis Damon, sponsor of LD 1020 (the same-sex marriage bill) would have almost certainly received DEPA’s backing had he chosen to run. DEPA’s endorsement of Rowe will likely strengthen support from his base, giving Rowe an edge in the Democratic primary. Rowe’s gains across all voters will be less, though social conservatives were not a likely group of supporters for Rowe.
An unanswered question in the Democratic gubernatorial primary will be where socially conservative Democrats will go. In Maine, more than in most other northern states, this is a significant portion of the Democratic base, represented well in Congressman Mike Michaud and current Governor John Baldacci. These voters range across several demographics, but can be a significant force: witness previously-unknown moderate Adam Cote coming in second in the 1st District Congressional Primary in 2008.
We have no doubt that there will be someone who will seek to lay claim to these voters, but who?
Derek,
I enjoyed your post but disagree with you that socially conservative Democrats were the reason that Adam Cote finished second in his primary, since he backs full marriage equality and a woman’s right to choose. Instead, I think people believed he could help us find solutions to our biggest problems after having worked on clean energy and served in Iraq.
His individual beliefs are not the issue, and these are Democrats we’re talking about, so “social conservative” is relative. He was by far the most moderate of the candidates in the race, so they gravitated towards him, despite his individual beliefs with which they may have disagreed.