Gay judge pursues N.C. House seat

Openly gay former superior court judge Ray Warren announced last week that he is reentering the race for the Democratic nomination to the U.S. House of Representatives from North Carolina's eighth district after having dropped out in April. With the September 10 primary less than a month away, Warren says he will actively campaign in hopes of beating out former state representative Billy Richardson, among other candidates, for the right to face Republican representative Robin Hayes in November. Warren said he isn't worried about criticism from other candidates about his seeming indecision regarding which race to enter. ["W]hether the establishment thinks this is a serious candidacy is irrelevant at this point," he said. In October, Warren announced that he would seek the U.S. Senate seat currently occupied by North Carolina's Jesse Helms, who is retiring. The announcement made him the first openly gay man to seek a major party nomination in North Carolina. Warren backed out of that race, however, a month later.