Batwindows.com - State Rep Carves Out Pregressive Niche in Fifth District Race

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By Laura Kiritsy
lkiritsy@baywindows.com

Plenty of worthy candidates court the support of LGBT activists when they hit the campaign trail. Still, it's rare that an activist says that his or her relationship with a candidate stems specifically from having worked with the candidate on LGBT issues. But that's how Shawn Hartman, co-chair of the Bay State Stonewall Democrats, got to know state Rep. Jamie Eldridge and it's why Hartman is supporting Eldridge in the Oct. 16 special election to replace Marty Meehan in the Fifth Congressional District. "I've gotten to know Rep. Eldridge over the last couple years mostly through his advocacy on marriage equality and other kind of important GBLT issues," says Hartman. "He's always been exceptionally supportive, always available, willing to chat on issues [and] willing to say, ‘What do you need? I'll give you whatever I can.'"

Indeed, Eldridge established his support for marriage equality early in his legislative career — the Acton Democrat was a freshman lawmaker when the Goodridge decision was handed down in November 2003. Although supporting the decision at the time was a risky proposition, especially for a first-term legislator, Eldridge joined the team of lawmakers and LGBT activists that aligned against attempts to undo Goodridge with an anti-gay constitutional amendment at the 2004 constitutional convention (ConCon). Since then he's beat back re-election challenges for his 37th Middlesex District seat from anti-equality opponents, first in 2004 and again in last November's elections. Nonetheless, as one of the pro-equality whips in the ongoing attempt to defeat the latest anti-gay marriage amendment — on which the legislature is expected to vote for a second and final time on June 14 — Eldridge continues to strategize behind the scenes with allied lawmakers and activists to preserve marriage equality in Massachusetts. He is in favor of killing the amendment via a procedural maneuver, although he believes that option is off the table based on new Senate President Therese Murray's recent statements that the amendment will be voted on. "This is an issue of civil rights," Eldridge said, explaining his willingness to kill the amendment any way possible. "You do whatever it takes."

Eldridge is competing in a Sept. 4 Democratic primary against former Lowell city councilor and mayor Eileen Donoghue, state Rep. Barry Finegold of Andover, state Rep. James Miceli of Wilmington and Niki Tsongas, dean of external affairs at Middlesex Community College. The primary victor will square off against Air Force Lt. Col. James Oganowski, a Dracut Republican. The Fifth Congressional District includes 19 cities and towns to the north and west of Boston. Meehan is vacating the seat to become the chancellor of UMass Lowell.

As the race heats up, Eldridge and Tsongas, the widow of U.S. Sen. Paul Tsongas — who earned loyal support from the gay community for his leadership on the issues — seem to be competing for the support of the LGBT community. Tsongas's cadre of LGBT supporters organized a fundraiser for her earlier this month (See "Pressing the Flesh," April 19). Likewise, in addition to Hartman and his Stonewall Dems co-chair Bonnie Winokar, Eldridge boasts the support of openly gay state lawmakers Sen. Jarrett Barrios and Reps. Liz Malia and Carl Sciortino. Malia and Sciortino hosted an LGBT fund raiser for Eldridge at 28 Degrees on May 8.

Has it been difficult to muster support in the LGBT community given the Tsongas family legacy? "I guess I would say, first of all you look at the leaders in the legislature and activists and they're with me," said Eldridge. "As much as I have the highest respect for Paul Tsongas's advocacy on these issues, I think the important thing is, who's been a leader and actively worked on these issues?"

Eldridge has carved out a niche in the crowded Democratic field by consistently casting himself as the only progressive candidate in the race. "It's very important for the district to have a progressive Democrat to serve the needs of the district," said Eldridge. "I am so upset and so angry about what's going on in Iraq and I think we need to end the war in Iraq. But within the district I think we need to establish universal single payer healthcare — that's the only way to provide healthcare to all Americans." His aggressive support for universal single-payer healthcare has distinguished him from his opponents among progressive bloggers at Blue Mass Group and Left in Lowell.

But can a progressive candidate win in blue-collar cities like Lowell and Lawrence? Eldridge believes he can, as his progressive values apply not just to social issues but to economic ones also. The candidate notes that communities like Lowell and Lawrence have the highest numbers of residents without healthcare in the district, hence his advocacy for universal healthcare. Many of them work minimum wage jobs, which is why, said Eldridge, "we need to establish a living wage for all Americans." Eldridge also points out that the communities are also home to large numbers of union members. "I'm the only candidate in the race that has a 100 percent AFL-CIO record," he boasted.

Eldridge's advocacy on LGBT issues goes back to his days as student body president at Johns Hopkins University. As a student leader, Eldridge participated in efforts to reconcile the presence of ROTC on campus with the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, implemented anonymous HIV testing on campus and made condoms available in campus bathrooms. As a student at B.C. law school, Eldridge again tackled "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" by working on the school's ultimately unsuccessful challenge to the Solomon Amendment, which denies federal funds to schools that ban military recruiters from their campuses.

Needless to say, he'd like to take over Meehan's leadership to repeal the military's ban on openly gay service members if elected. "Absolutely, I would plan to be the lead sponsor of the Military Readiness Enhancement Act, which repeals the ‘Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy," said Eldridge. "I think that's a legacy of Congressman Meehan." He also supports repealing the federal DOMA, as it prevents local married same-sex couples from accessing benefits that fall under federal jurisdiction. Eldridge also supports legislation to add sexual orientation and gender identity to federal hate crimes statutes — which recently passed in the House — as well as the Employment Nondiscrimination Act (ENDA), a bill to prevent workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. Though there has been controversy over including gender identity in ENDA, Eldridge notes that despite continued opposition to same-sex marriage, polls show that most Americans "are much more supportive of gay rights and it's becoming more and more omnipresent. So I think you can include the transgender and … gender expression language in that legislation." (Despite his support for trans-inclusion at the federal level, Eldridge's name is not among those on the list of cosponsors to amend the state's anti-discrimination and hate crimes laws to include gender identity and expression. "It's an omission that I'm not on there," he said when asked about it. "I will sign on to that. But I'm an absolute supporter of that.")

Eldridge said given Massachusetts's history of leading on civil rights issues, he sees advocating for LGBT right as an obligation should he be elected to Congress. "That would be one of my intrinsic roles of being there is to push the envelope and to constantly be hitting on progressive issues," he said, "whether it's universal single payer [healthcare], minimum wage or civil rights issues."

And he's got some strong words for members of his own party who caution a slow and steady approach on core Democratic principles like gay rights. "I don't know why so many Democrats are scared of these things," said Eldridge. "It's just really sad and … one of the things I say is that the problem down in D.C. is not just President Bush but it's too many Democrats who don't stand up for our values." Eldridge asserts that voters find politicians who take strong stands on tough issues inspiring and are thus more inclined to support them. "[So] you shouldn't be afraid of that, and from a political point of view, it's the right thing to do. That's why you're in public service. I still say the most amazing experience for me being a legislator was the legalization of gay marriage," said Eldridge. "I mean, to be so involved in a civil rights issue and I was there on May 17 at Cambridge City Hall you know, watching these couples [apply for marriage licenses]. That was amazing. It hasn't gotten better than that"

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