http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2012/04/26/pennsylvania-set-to-get-its-first-openly-gay-lawmaker/
Pennsylvania is set to get its first openly gay state lawmaker, as a 33 year old is set to win a Democratic State House primary, leaving him with an open path to election this November, unless an independent candidate decides to compete for the seat.
Brian Sims, a lawyer based in Philadelphia, is set to win the primary against his fellow Democratic opponent, Babette Josephs, with 51.6 percent of the vote, reports the Philadelphia Enquirer.
Mr Sims, the son of two military parents and a former football star, served as his opponent’s campaign treasurer when she won re-election in 2010. Ms Josephs, who is 71, has been herself a champion of liberal causes since first being elected to her post in 1984, though that did not stop her from approving strongly-worded leaflets against Mr Sims during the campaign leading up to the election.
In a statement, Mr Sims said: ”It’s because of the work Babette has done over the years that I was able to run and win in a district like this… The campaign was about ideas and who could do the best job going forward, not a referendum on the past 27 years.”
It is possible that he could join the legislature simultaneously with another gay Democrat candidate, Chris Dietz, who is running in the Harrisburg area of the state.