Openly gay candidate loses in tight Dane County race
Wednesday, 24 February 2010 10:07
Marc Gofstein narrowly lost a bid to become the first openly gay supervisor to represent Sun Prairie on the Dane County Board of Supervisors.
Gofstein came in third in a three-way non-partisan primary Feb. 16. He placed just 15 votes behind second-place finisher Steve Schwartzer, who goes on to face top vote-getter Bill Clausius in the Nov. 2 general election.
As a former president of the Sun Prairie City Council, Clausius had the most name recognition among voters in the 19th district, which encompasses western Sun Prairie. But Gofstein, 43, had the backing of both Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk and Dane County Sheriff Dave Mahoney.
Gofstein said he entered the race at “the last minute,” after the incumbent supervisor decided in early December not to seek re-election. He said he was confident the election results would have been different if he’d had longer to stage his campaign.
A travel consultant, Gofstein moved to the area four years ago with husband Mark Dunaway. Prior to the move he lived in California, where he served as a campaign manager, an aide to the Long Beach City Council and a district director for a member of the California Assembly.
Historically, the 19th District has voted conservative, but an influx of new residents from Madison, lured by lower home prices and larger properties, is slowly changing the area’s demographics, according to Gofstein.
A growing number of the new residents are gay, he said.
While his opponents did not raise his sexual orientation as a campaign issue, Gofstein said he felt somewhat gay-baited by Clausius at a candidate’s forum.
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