N.Y. Log Cabin Endorses Donovan for AG

The New York State chapter of the Log Cabin Republicans endorsed Dan Donovan, the Republican nominee for state attorney general, whom Democrats have criticized for his opposition to marriage equality.

In a news release Wednesday morning, the Log Cabin New York board of directors and political action committee announced their support for Donovan, the Staten Island prosecutor running for attorney general on the Republican and Conservative party lines.

"As the district attorney of Staten Island, Mr. Donovan has a long and distinguished record of treating everyone equal under the law," said Log Cabin Republicans of New York State PAC chairman Gregory T. Angelo in the release. "He is a man of integrity with a selfless commitment to uphold the rights of all citizens of this state, and we look forward to working with him when he becomes the next attorney general of the state of New York in November."

Following the Proposition 8 ruling in California, the New York State Democrats demanded to know where Donovan stood on marriage equality, something that all the Democratic attorney general candidates support. The attack resulted in the Donovan campaign saying that if elected he would uphold a potential marriage equality law in New York state, although he is personally opposed to marriage equality and supports civil unions. Democrats and LGBT leaders in the party continued the offensive.

Asked whether the personal opposition of Donovan to marriage equality raised concern among Log Cabin, spokesman Angelo turned the question on the Democrats.

"The job of the attorney general is to uphold the law," he said. "New York has a Democratic-controlled assembly, a Democratic-controlled senate, and a Democratic governor. It is their job to pass legislation; it is the attorney general's duty to enforce it. And Donovan has pledged that he will do just that."

Democrats also have targeted Donovan for his association with former Republican congressman and Staten Island borough president Guy Molinari. In 1994 the latter said that an attorney general candidate was unfit for office because she was a lesbian.

Asked about the link to Molinari, Angelo appealed to a more prominent 2010 backer of Donovan.

"What about Donovan's association with Mayor Bloomberg -- the most outspoken proponent of marriage equality in New York City history?" he said.