Gay Finnish Presidential Candidate Defeated

Trudy Ring

Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.

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Trudy Ring

February 06 2012 3:45 AM EST

November 17 2015 5:28 AM EST

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Pekka Haavisto, Finland's first openly gay presidential candidate, lost a runoff election Sunday to former finance minister Sauli Niinisto.

The Associated Press reports that Haavisto, a former environment minister, received 37% of the vote to Niinisto's 63%. They were competing to succeed Tarja Halonen, the nation's first woman president, who is finishing her second term and is not eligible to run again.

In the first round of voting, January 28, Niinisto came in first with 37% of the vote and Haavisto second with 18.8%. Because no candidate received a majority, the runoff was necessary.

According to the AP, "Haavisto's sexual orientation wasn't a major issue in debates, but analysts said it was an obstacle in the race. 'The older generation simply isn't ready for it,' said Olavi Borg, a political analyst."

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