At their February meeting, the San Diego Democratic Club (SDDC) surprised political observers with their decision to not endorse John Rinaldi in his campaign for the 52nd Congressional District. Rinaldi, one of three Democratic candidates in the primary, is openly gay.

Ultimately, the SDDC voted to make no endorsement in the race. Instead, the club decided to label Rinaldi an acceptable candidate – a distinction also given to Rinaldi’s Democratic competitors, Derek Casady and Karen Otter.

The issue of whether or not the SDDC should endorse the openly gay candidate in this race reappeared at the club’s meeting last Thursday. During a lengthy meeting to determine endorsements in several local and statewide races, the longest discussion concerned Howard Menzer’s motion to rescind February’s previous votes for a failed motion to endorse a candidate in the 52nd District primary, as well as a passed motion that rated all three Democratic candidates acceptable.

Under the club’s rules, acceptable ratings cannot be given if one candidate in the race is officially endorsed by the SDDC. Thus, the decision to endorse Rinaldi would result in stripping acceptable ratings from both Casady and Otter. The motion to rescind failed by a vote of 46-21, but not without heated debate from club members on both sides of the issue.

Revoking acceptable ratings from Casady and Otter was a major sticking point for many SDDC members. All three Democratic candidates scored 100 percent on the club’s questionnaire, which is meant to gauge a candidate’s position on issues important to the club, such as medical marijuana, needle exchange, abortion and same-sex marriage.

In addition, Casady has been a member and supporter of the SDDC for 15 years. While addressing the club at the meeting, he spoke about his efforts to repeal the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy and his other gay-friendly credentials.

During her comments to the SDDC, Otter reinforced her support for GLBT causes and informed the club that she has gay people in her family. She also made a passionate plea to keep her heterosexual orientation out of the decision to endorse.

“I do want you to consider what you’re about to do,” Otter said. “Sexual orientation is not a component you should consider in this matter. You could hurt the reputation of the club by doing so. Look to your heart and think about how you would want to be considered in that arena.”

In response, Rinaldi pointed out that sexual orientation had already become a factor in the campaign. Recently, charges of gay-baiting have surfaced in the race to unseat Republican incumbent Duncan Hunter.

“In the last two months, the race has changed,” Rinaldi explained. “My sexual orientation has come under attack. We expected that from Duncan Hunter, but we didn’t expect it from advocates in our own party.”

These attacks on Rinaldi’s sexuality served as the impetus for the endorsement issue reappearing before the SDDC two months after the club’s original vote to not endorse. While making his motion to rescind the February vote, Menzer related his experiences while attending the Democratic Party pre-endorsement conference. He said another delegate told him that the entire Democratic ticket would “go down in flames with Rinaldi on it.”

Other SDDC members told similar stories from their canvassing efforts of citizens who said they had been informed that voting for an openly gay man in a conservative district would bring down the entire Democratic slate. The source of this information was debated at length.

Both Casady and Otter acknowledged that people associated with their campaigns had made public comments about Rinaldi’s sexuality. Casady explained that his son-in-law posted derogatory remarks referencing Rinaldi’s sexuality on a Web site devoted to the race for the 52nd District. Casady said he immediately distanced himself from his son-in-law and removed the son-in-law’s endorsement from campaign materials.

Otter said she chastised one of her campaign workers for taking public swipes at Rinaldi’s sexuality. “I told him to stop,” Otter said. “It was nothing that should be addressed in the race.”

That Casady and Otter were not personally implicated in any of the gay-baiting and because both took proactive stances in repudiating the tactic carried weight with SDDC members. “The candidates themselves did not do the gay-baiting,” said Jeri Dilno, the club’s vice president for political action. “All three candidates did take action against the gay-baiting when they found out about it, though.”

Rinaldi, Casady and Otter will all retain their acceptable ratings from the SDDC. They will square off in California’s primary election on June 6.

In other agenda items, the SDDC voted to endorse Rocky Delgadillo for attorney general, John Chiang for state controller, Cruz Bustamante for insurance commissioner, Debra Bowen for secretary of state and Judy Chu for State Board of Equalization. Endorsements were also given to Jim Wilson in the race for San Diego School Board District B and Pat Moriarty for Chula Vista City Council.

The SDDC could not produce the necessary 60 percent majority in votes to endorse for governor or lieutenant governor. Both Steve Westly and Phil Angelides received acceptable ratings in the governor’s race, while Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi and Jackie Speier received acceptable ratings in their bids for lieutenant governor.

In a non-agenda item, the club also voted to make gay incumbent Steve Padilla’s campaign to be re-elected mayor of Chula Vista a priority campaign. The motion passed on a 43-22 vote.