California
Democratic congressional candidate Brett Wagner said a group
of two dozen party officials asked him to get out of the
race so someone else could run against the incumbent,
Republican representative Elton Gallegly.
Wagner suggested that the Democratic
leaders want him out because he is gay. He said he
wants the group of officials booted from their
positions within the party.
Wagner said that during an emergency meeting of
the Ventura County Democratic Party Central Committee
on Monday night that the group made unfounded
allegations that he had padded his resume, failed to report
campaign donations, and used his nonprofit think tank for
political purposes. "I try to be a good Democrat as
best I can, and I try to be loyal to my party, so I'm
reluctant to bring up the lingering homophobia that
exists in the party. But, yes, I think this is part of it,"
Wagner told the Santa Barbara News-Press .
Party officials in Ventura and Santa Barbara
counties are concerned the controversy will detract
from their efforts to defeat Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger's host of state propositions on the November
ballot. They also worry that the issue will hurt
anyone who wins the Democratic primary next June,
upsetting their hope to unseat Gallegly, whose 24th
congressional district stretches from Simi Valley to
Vandenberg Air Force Base.
Bob Handy, the party's regional director for
Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, apologized to
Wagner and to party officials and said that he wanted
to "resolve this and move forward."
Wagner said he has no intention of stepping
aside, adding that he wants those who signed the
letter asking him to drop out removed from office for
misusing their positions within the party. (AP)