Prop8 lawyer for CA assembly? Not so fast...

By cooper888-

Did you know that Prop 8 drafter and lawyer, Andrew Pugno is running for California State Assembly District 05? Who is this Andrew Pugno? Well read this from the Sacramento Stonewall Democrats:

Pugno drafted Proposition 8 to insert discriminatory language into the highest law of the land, our State Constitution. If he could be successful at making this change, then no court in California could argue with this discriminatory policy. Pugno, along with the folks at protectmarriage.com, the National Organization for Marriage, and political consultant Frank Schubert created a massive campaign fueled by money from churches and fear-mongering ads.

However, according to a recent poll, Dr. Richard Pan, democratic challenger to republican Andrew Pugno has a 10 point lead in the traditionally republican California assembly district 05 (Sacramento area).

I'm sorry cooper, what did you just say? Pan has a chance to turn this district?

A fresh survey of the race for the area’s Assembly District 5 seat finds Democrat Dr. Richard Pan pulling ahead of his opponent Republican Andy Pugno once voters learn more about the candidates.

“Our survey finds the race begins in a statistical tie, with Dr. Pan moving to a 10-point lead over opponent Andy Pugno after voters hear both positive and negative messages about the candidates,” said Ben Tulchin of San Francisco-based Tulchin Research. “While the race starts very close, our survey shows Dr. Pan is well positioned for victory in November.”

Wow! Incredible news! But how can this be?

For the past few decades AD5 has been a safe Republican seat with a strong Republican voter registration advantage. Since 2000 those registration numbers have been eroding and now the district is divided equally between registered Democrats and registered Republicans. The Target Book and political pundits no longer view AD5 as a safe Republican seat, but now consider the District one of the most hotly contested legislative races in the state. Recent polling also demonstrates that this race will be extremely close.

Well hot diggity dog, that's good enough for me, ActBlue here I come! But wait.. hold on a second, who is this Dr. Pan?

Richard Pan is a physician and an educator at the UC Davis Children’s Hospital, with a commitment to community service. He believes that a healthy community needs a strong local economy, good schools and access to quality healthcare. Pan aims to bring a new perspective to the state Assembly by working to fix the broken system, improve our schools and reduce health care costs for families and businesses.

Okay, okay, he sounds like a good guy but what about Pugno?

“Our research shows that Pugno is too extreme for this district, which puts Richard Pan in a very strong position to win in November,” said Josh Pulliam, Pan’s campaign consultant.

But the Stonewall Democrats must have more to say about him? Oh yeah, read on...

Well it turns out Pugno's home is not in Assembly District 5, it is in District 10!

California law clearly states that candidates for Assembly must live within and be registered to vote within the district they seek to represent. When confronted about this glaring problem, Pugno's spokesperson had little more to say than YOU CAUGHT US!
He told Capitol Weekly:

"Andy has bought a house in the 5th and they were supposed to move this morning. He will be moving in very shortly," Rexroad said. "He has been trying to get into a house for a while and the one he was originally settled on basically fell through based on the seller."

Read more...

This carpetbagger thinks he can waltz into Assembly District 5 with a boatload of money he made off of hating gay people and get elected to the Assembly.

Hmmm, so Pugno has consistently waged campaigns of bigotry against the gay community throughout his career, is a carpetbagger and is trying to buy his seat. Got it.

Well coop, what can we do?

Glad you asked, please join me sending a strong message to NOM and the Prop8 bigots that they are not welcome.

Sacramento Stonewall Democrats ActBlue Page

ActBlue

Stop Andrew Pugno dot com. for more information.

For information on Dr. Richard Pan

Pan for Assembly

Contribute to Dr. Pan campaign ActBlue here

Why do you care about this cooper?

My husband and I were married in August 2008 when marriage equality was allowed in CA. When PropH8 stopped marriage equality it was a kick in the gut (to say the least) to learn we were second class citizens. For us to enjoy a strange limbo kind of marriage while others couldn't just didn't feel right.

Now that judge Walker has overturned Prop 8 and marriages will resume on the 18th (appeals and 9th circuit not withstanding) we know NOM and their ilk are enraged. I really fear the backlash will come in the way of huge monetary support to Pugno. I can NOT allow his campaign to succeed and have him representing me (HA) in the California state assembly.

For my out of state friends who might be wondering why should we care about this? Think what a powerful message can be sent here to the likes of NOM by telling Pugno, NO you can not represent me.

Thank you for reading, won't you please help?

UPDATE - Video courtesy of scarce (thank you!)