In his bid to unseat Lori Saldaña in the 76th District state Assembly race, openly gay Republican Ralph Denney has criticized the Democratic incumbent’s support of the GLBT community and her acceptance of lobbyists’ gifts.

Saldaña, an environmentalist and former teacher who has held the seat since 2004, has received a 100 percent rating from the San Diego Democratic Club (SDDC) for her stance on GLBT issues.

Though garnering 57 percent of the vote in the June primary election, Denney will face an uphill battle against the progressive legislator in the heavily Democratic district. Conservative write-in candidate Kim Tran has attacked both for their ties to the GLBT community.

If elected, Denney said he hopes to focus on job creation and education, two issues he said Democrats have “badly mishandled” despite holding a “near veto-proof majority in the Legislature.”

“Both parties are so concerned with their own private agendas and building walls to protect those agendas … [that] nothing is really getting done,” Denney said. “I will be the one who finds compromise between the two extremes.”

Saldaña characterized her first two years in office as a period of “learning the legislative ropes.” She said she wants to redouble her efforts in a second term, revisiting water-quality legislation and other bills she championed that were vetoed by the governor.

Questioned on issues important to the GLBT community, Saldaña said she supports “full marriage equality,” noting her co-sponsorship of AB 19, the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act. Authored by Assemblymember Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, the bill and its later incarnation, AB 849, sought to change the Family Code to state that marriage is between “two persons,” instead of a man and a woman.

Denney stopped short of supporting same-sex marriage, saying he supports “Vermont-style civil unions.”

“I don’t believe the legislature has the authority to overrule the will of the people,” Denney said. “That’s what we’ve got courts for.

“I oppose forcing any religious entity to accept a union that they feel is against their tenets,” he added. “However, there are serious civil issues that must be addressed…. We must give all people who are in a committed relationship equal footing under the tax code, under inheritance codes.”

On the issue of abortion, Saldaña said she is 100 percent pro-choice.

“I believe that the best way to deal with that is by making good education available and contraception available for people that want it,” she said.

Denney did not characterize himself as pro-choice, but said he is not in step with those in his party who seek to ban abortion in all instances.

“I would like to see a three-day cooling off period,” he said. “They walk in on a Monday, they say they want an abortion and the clinic gives them a non-religious pamphlet explaining their alternatives. They can throw it away on their way out and then come back on Friday and get their abortion.”

Saldaña said she opposes Proposition 85, which would require doctors to notify a minor’s parents before performing an abortion.

“Most young women have good relationships with their parents … but [there are] the ones who have been molested or abused,” Saldaña said. “If it affects even one family in that way then we should not have a law that would put them at greater risk.”

Denney said that as a father and a grandparent he supports parental notification.

“It is ludicrous to believe that I as a parent should not have the right to know that my 12- or 13-year-old daughter is about to have an intrusive medical procedure that could leave her sterile, that could, under extreme circumstances, leave her dead,” he said. “Beyond that, as a parent, I need to know if she’s engaging in unsafe practices.”

Denney said that on the “rare occasion” where a teen has been the subject of parental abuse “there are provisions to bypass the parent” for an abortion.

Both Saldaña and Denney expressed opposition to the Boy Scouts’ preferential land lease in Balboa Park, given the organization’s policy barring gays and atheists from its ranks. Both expressed support for the medicinal use of marijuana, as prescribed by a doctor.

While Saldaña supports properly monitored clean-needle exchange programs to reduce the spread of hepatitis and HIV among intravenous drug users, Denney was uncertain how he felt about the issue.

“That’s where my conservatism comes in,” he said. “I think it may be sending the wrong message…. Most of the people who participate in needle exchanges are not gay, so I don’t know how it got wrapped up as an LGBT issue.”

Denney defended his endorsement by former Superior Court judge Larry Stirling, which was noted in his campaign literature. During an appearance before the local chapter of the Log Cabin Republicans (LCR), Stirling expressed his support for a ban on same-sex marriage.

“I’m not ashamed of the fact that Larry Stirling supports me,” Denney said. “I know him well enough to know that I don’t agree with everything that he stands for.”

In regard to charges that Stirling once asked to have his courtroom disinfected after hearing the testimony of a man with AIDS, Denney said: “From what he had described, it sounded to me like it was a very prudent response…. I think it’s grossly unfair to brand anyone for an act that they did 20 years ago.”

Despite Saldaña’s appearances at GLBT community events, Denney charged that the Assembly member has “given lip service to LGBT equality.”

He said he felt it was inappropriate that Saldaña chose to speak about immigration during a rally for the victims of an anti-gay hate crime that occurred during this year’s LGBT Pride festivities.

“She stood up there when it was her turn to speak and she said, ‘Oh, it was terrible that they were attacked,’ and then she went on for five minutes about how we’re mistreating illegal immigrants,” Denney said. “It was not appropriate, but it did demonstrate to people such as myself, who aren’t rosy-eyed about any Democrat in office, how little she actually cares about us and our issues.”

Saldaña countered: “I don’t know what he was smoking that day. I talked about how discrimination against any category of people leads to acts of violence, when it is normalized…. I didn’t read from a scripted text, I spoke from my heart…. Acts of injustice against one group creates injustice for all of us.”

Chad Terry, president of the local Log Cabin Republicans, also voiced doubts about Saldaña’s support.

“She has done nothing but advocate driver’s licenses for illegals, and she’s been MIA anytime anyone’s tried to reach her,” Terry said. “LCR invited her to a debate with Ralph [at The Center] and she dismissed us out of hand. The incumbent did not even acknowledge the invitation.”

San Diego Democratic Club President Stephen Whitburn said he feels Saldaña’s support of the community has been unwavering.

“There have been rallies for marriage equality for which Lori Saldaña was the one elected official who was there,” Whitburn said. “She has gone on television to talk about the need for full equality, including equal marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples. She could not be doing more to advocate for equality.”

While the GLBT Vote 2006 organization has endorsed the re-election of Congressmember Brian Bilbray and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, both Republicans, the group did not lend its endorsement to Republican Denney.

“We’ve had a good history with Saldaña,” said the group’s chair, Bob Lehman. “Her chief of staff was there at the rally we had against 4th & B, so she’s obviously paying attention to our community.” (The rally was held to protest the venue’s recent decision to book an artist whose lyrics advocate violence against gays.)

Denney also criticized Saldaña for being the second-highest recipient of lobbyists’ gifts during her time in the Assembly, perks totaling close to $5,000.

“Even though she ran two years ago on campaign reform, [that] obviously went right out the window,” Denney said. “I won’t accept any gifts.”

Saldaña said the gifts were mostly worth modest sums, invitations to dinners and events she attended in the process of meeting people she would need to develop relationships with as a legislator.

“They were substantial my first year because I was out at multiple events every night getting to know people,” Saldaña said. “I went up there as an educator and an environmentalist. I’d never worked with developers and now I’m chairing the housing and community development committee, so I need to get to know these people that are building homes for California’s families.

“I still don’t take money or gifts from the petroleum producers,” Saldaña added. “Sometimes they’ve even sent me checks and I’ve sent them back.”