Brody's Notes... Openly Gay Mayoral Candidate Wins Recount In Gainesville, Florida

By Brody Levesque (Washington DC) Apr 16 | Openly Gay mayoral candidate, City Supervisor Craig Lowe has been certified as the winner in a hotly contested race for the office of  mayor of Gainesville, Florida that ended in a recount. Pam Carpenter, Alachua County Florida's supervisor of elections announced that the canvassing board certified the results at 3:18 PM EST. Mr. Lowe is officially the city's mayor-elect.

In the runoff election Craig Lowe was  narrowly declared the winner, pending the mandatory vote recount triggered by his razor-thin win by 35 votes. Lowe's candidacy was marked by vehement anti-gay rhetoric by Christian activists, including "No Homo Mayor" signs in front of one church and the below false Anti-Gay attack-flyer campaign which promised predatory "gays in women's restrooms" should Lowe win.

City Commissioner Craig Lowe will become the first openly gay mayor in the northern Florida, and one of fewer than 30 openly LGBT mayors serving in the U.S.Gainesville joins municipalities as diverse as Houston, Texas, with 2.2 million residents, and Dillon, Colorado, population 800–both of which have elected openly LGBT mayors in the past year.