Mar 22, 2011

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Fred Karger to Become First Openly Gay GOP Presidential Candidate

March 23, 2011, 11:11 am ET

Stephanie Mencimer reports:

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Retired California political consultant Fred Karger will be in DC today to file his paperwork with the Federal Election Commission officially declaring his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination. It will make him the first openly gay Republican ever to run for president as well as the first GOP candidate to declare officially that he is running for the 2012 race. Karger has already made many swings through Iowa and New Hampshire, laying the groundwork for his campaign in those key primary states. He’s run TV ads and met with dozens of young Republican activists to rally the troops. Today’s FEC filing simply makes his candidacy official. It also, no doubt, will make it harder for Republicans to keep him out of candidate forums and debates during the campaign, which some have been trying to do

While Karger met this week with officials at the RNC, including chairman Reince Priebus, in what he called a warm meeting, other members of the GOP establishment have been so welcoming of his historic candidacy. As we reported earlier this month, RNC members in Iowa and a key organizer with Ralph Reed’s Faith and Freedom Coalition have not only threatened to keep Karger out of the race but intentionally shut him out of a March 7 presidential forum in Des Moines organized by Reed’s group. Karger responded by filing a complaint against RNC member and Iowa Faith and Freedom organizer Steve Scheffler as well as his organization for violating federal election laws by discriminating against Karger because he’s gay. Karger’s official candidate status now will only help his complaint.

Still, it’s likely that he faces an uphill battle getting into future debates, even with the friendly reception at the RNC in DC this week.

Read the full story at Mother Jones

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