Important victories were achieved in the San Diego area for GLBT equality efforts, according to Equality California (EQCA) and Assemblymember Mark Leno. Three of the seven state races identified by Equality California as key to future GLBT equality efforts in the state Legislature were San Diego seats, and two of those were successful – Lori Saldaña in the State Assembly’s 76th District and Christine Kehoe in the State Senate’s 39th District.

In a press conference held Thursday, Nov. 4, Equality California’s executive director Geoffrey Kors and Assemblymember Leno said those successes were due largely to GLBT community get-out-the-vote efforts conducted by local organizations, such as The Center, and Equality California’s California Voter ID Project, which landed in San Diego in early spring.

“I think it bodes well for future state efforts,” Kors said. “San Diego is such an important part of the state. … In San Diego, we have over 20,000 identified marriage equality supporters, and we’re going to continue to build that. Those efforts really make a difference to be able to identify voters who support equality and voters from our community, and then turning them out on Election Day, especially in close races.”

Forty-one votes are required to pass a bill in the Assembly and 21 votes are required in the state’s Senate. Equality California said 21 out of 40 state Senators, all Democrats, rated 100 percent on GLBT-friendly bills, which include Kehoe’s Insurance Equality Act and Assemblymember John Laird’s Labor and Employment Non-Discrimination Act, both passed by Gov. Schwarzenegger. Forty-three out of 80 Assembly members are also Democrats. Thirteen out of 40 Senators and 28 out of 80 Assembly members were at 0 percent on these same bills; all were Republican.

Chula Vista City Councilmember Patty Davis’ loss to Republican incumbent Shirley Horton in the 78th Assembly District was a blow, but left the balance of GLBT-friendly representation in the State Assembly intact, which could help Leno’s Marriage License Non-Discrimination Act pass through the Assembly when it is reintroduced Dec. 6.

“I think in San Diego we saw a really strong effort in the LGBT community, getting engaged and being active,” Kors said. “And I think it bodes really well for the future in those races and … I think Lori and Chris winning by those margins [54 percent and 60 percent, respectively] was really impressive, and Patty was in striking distance.”

“It’s even more impressive when you recognize that George Bush beat John Kerry in San Diego County,” Leno added.

However, U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein made waves among marriage equality supporters the day after the elections when she blamed the same-sex marriage issue for Bush’s reelection.

“It gives them a position to rally around,” she told the San Francisco Chronicle the day after the elections. “That whole issue [same-sex marriage] has been too much, too fast, too soon. People aren’t ready for it.”

Equality California issued a statement criticizing Feinstein’s remarks:

“It is never too soon or too fast to ask for basic civil rights for all Americans,” Kors said in the Nov. 4 statement calling for a retraction from Feinstein. “To blame the LGBT community for a presidential election that was won by 136,000 votes (from Ohio) is incredibly offensive. It is blaming the victim for the bully’s act.”

Feinstein’s comments echo her “less than stellar” record on GLBT issues, EQCA said, citing Feinstein’s refusal to sign domestic partnership legislation when she served as San Francisco’s mayor, and her recent failure to co-sponsor the Permanent Partners Immigration Act. U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer, who was just reelected, is a co-sponsor of the bill.

Overall, five out of EQCA’s seven targeted races were successful. “We didn’t lose any ground,” Leno said. “The only ground we didn’t pick up were in Republican districts.”

“In each of those races, we had candidates who, from the get-go, said that they supported the Marriage License Non-Discrimination Act and would vote for it,” Kors said. “They were solid in their support from day one, and that position not only didn’t hurt them, it helped them… I think we clearly demonstrated that supporting marriage equality is far from a negative [stance] in California, but a positive.”

Figures tabulated the day after the elections showed voter turnout for the presidential race was the highest it has been in over three decades – just under 60 percent of all eligible voters, according to the nonpartisan Committee for the Study of the American Electorate. Just over 54 percent of eligible voters turned out for the 2000 presidential elections.