The City of Gainesville has elected its first openly gay mayor—that is if a recount doesn’t change the outcome.
On Tuesday, April 13, former city commissioner Craig Lowe was announced the winner of the race with only 35 more votes than rival Don Marsh. Because he won by less than half of a percentage point, the supervisor of elections office scheduled a mandatory recount for Friday, April 16.
Voter turnout was strong, with nearly 16% of registered voters taking part in the run-off election. The heated race received statewide attention because of anti-gay attacks on Lowe by local religious leaders.
Flyers, online videos and heated advertisements against Lowe and LGBTs in general circulated throughout the community and even on church signs.
Dove Outreach Church is under investigation after it posted a sign in front of the church that read, “No Homo Mayor.” A top church official confirmed that the church had erected the sign. Pastor Wayne Sapp has been posting anti-gay videos online, calling Lowe a “fag” and saying that “Gainesville should not be turned into ‘Homoville.’”
The anti-Lowe camp not only used Lowe’s sexuality against him during the campaign, but also his support of a city ordinance that added transgender people to the city’s equal protection law. The group posted fliers declaring that the ordinance should be repealed because it allowed “predators and men” to legally enter women’s restrooms.
March had said that if he were elected, he would try to repeal the ordinance, which voters declined to do last fall.
Americans United, a non-profit group that brings Americans of many faiths and political viewpoints together to defend church-state separation, has asked the IRS to investigate the church since it’s a federally-funded organization.
Alachua County tax appraisers are already investigating Dove World Outreach in relation to their exempt status.
Keep checking WatermarkOnline.com for official election results and an update on the recount.
