The following is based on a Reader-submitted opinion to The Desert Sun at mydesert.com by Kurt Barrie, Democratic activist.
With the election victories of openly-gay Steve Pougnet, Palm Springs Mayor-Elect, and of Rick Hutcheson to the City Council, they join Councilwoman Ginny Foat to make a majority on the Palm Springs City Council. All three are openly-gay Democrats and are strongly supported by the local Desert Stonewall Democrats Democratic Club (DSD). DSD is a local branch of the National Stonewall Democrats. In addition, openly-gay Democrat, Craig Ewing, unseated a Repugnant incumbant in the Desert Water Agency race. These elections are only a few of the many in the Desert that prove changing demographics and voter participation have occurred in this once conservative hold.
In Desert Hot Springs openly-gay Democrat Karl Baker secured a seat on the City Council and in Cathedral City two openly-gay Democrats serve, including Mayor Pro-Tem Greg Pettis and Paul Marchand (the third gay Council member, a Repugnant, Chuck Vasquez, is only openly-gay north of CA-111 in the predominantly gay Cove area of Cathedral City and is in the closet in the rest of Cathedral City).
More below the flip…
These victories by openly-gay Democrats are due in part by the influx of Gays and Lesbians that have been moving to the Desert over the past several years. One of the reasons this has made a difference here, is that 82% of those in the Gay and Lesbian Community who are registered to vote are Democrats. This is mirrored by national trends that show the same numbers for Gays and Lesbians who are aligned with the Democratic Party which has been at the forefront of change for gays and lesbians on issues of Marriage Equality, Civil Rights, Hate Crimes, and other legislation. This margin of Democratic voter registration has produced victories for those running for local, State, and National seats on City Councils, the State Assembly, State Senate, U.S. Congess and the U.S. Senate.
What does all this mean locally? Well, take Shadowrock Development for instance, not long ago Shadowrock would not have had a problem passing because the demographics were much more conservative and supportive of development in general. Having a Democratic majority now, you will see that conservation issues, preservation issues and Democratic Party platform issues will predominate. Mayor-Elect Pougnet has promised a Green symposium, and Councilman-Elect Rick Hutcheson has made it clear that he too will agressively pursue green technology and eco-friendly and new energy sources in Palm Springs. All three openly-gay Democrats opposed Shadowrock, which means that it would not have been approved by our new City Council. This is significant since Democrats pulled out the votes in this election and is in part why Shadowrock failed on the ballot in a landslide victory by the No on C campaign.
Democrats in the Desert are celebrating victories and are promising change. In the future we can expect more conservation, more preservation and more focus on eco-sensitive, green development, as well as more of a focus on changing business patterns in the Coachella Valley. However, with a few victories of Repugnants in the Coachella Valley, including Weigel’s election to the City Council, edging out openly-gay John Williams by a mere 104 votes, and the various homophobic stances of the Desert Sun, it keeps the Repugnants in the game. The Repugnants were also succesful in keeping one incumbent on the Desert Water Agency and had a few victories in Desert Hot Springs. So, the Desert Communities can expect interesting changes ahead. And local Gay Democrats have much to celebrate with this election and will apparently have many more to celebrate in the future.