Pennsylvania House candidate Fern Kaufman aspired to be the state’s first openly LGBT lawmaker, but instead she became one of countless Democratic casualties throughout the country Tuesday.
Kaufman lost the race for the 26th District to 18-year Republican incumbent Tim Hennessey, who also bested her in 2008. This year’s final tally was 56-43 percent, while two years ago the race was slightly closer.
She postured that the loss had little to do with her own candidacy and more to do with the widespread dissatisfaction with the nation’s Democratic leadership.
“I don’t think this was a referendum on any particular candidate. When you look at the results from U.S. Congressional races down, I don’t think most of them had anything to do with the candidates, but showed how people right now only care about the party they affiliate themselves with,” said Kaufman.
She said she ran into many residents at the polls Tuesday whom she’d met while canvassing door to door and who told her they voted for all Republicans, except for her; others “charged past us right into the polls with what looked like this vitriol in their eyes.”
“They just went in there trying to get the Democrats out,” Kaufman said. “It was almost like the ballot was a weapon that they were using. But I don’t think this had anything to do with LGBT issues or with me personally. I was running in a district that is extremely hard for Democrats, and yesterday was just not a day for Democrats. I just got caught up in the whirlwind.”
Meanwhile, Kaufman added, she doesn’t plan to try for that seat again.
“I don’t think I have another one in me. I don’t know if anybody gets what this takes out of you. Both [partner] Cheryl and I have gone through this twice, spent summers with zero vacations, been out every single weekend going door to door. I haven’t gone on to higher positions in my career where I could be making more because I needed something with flexibility. I don’t think I can do it again, and I couldn’t ask any more of Cheryl. This wasn’t her dream, but she wanted to support me, and the issues that are important to me are important to her.”
On top of the toll the campaigns have taken on Kaufman, she said she’s been dismayed by what she calls a lack of response from the LGBT community.
While she noted that some LGBT voters did their best to support her, she said the community as a whole was ineffective in her campaign.
“I actually had to fight with my own community for this. I don’t know if I can take on another uphill battle when my community was not there for me,” she said. “That’s a harsh statement to make, but they weren’t. It was sporadic, and I had to fight for them to pay attention but, by and large, they did not. It’s one thing to say, ‘We really support you,’ and slap me on the back and say, ‘Go, girl, you’re great.’ That’s great, but I need people who are actually willing to put rubber to the road because this isn’t something that can be done alone. I don’t know if I have that fight in me again to go back to the community and try to get them to actually show up.”
Kaufman added that political apathy among LGBT individuals can have tangible results.
“I think that probably for the next 10 years now, it’s going to be very difficult for the LGBT community to really gain a voice in Pennsylvania after this election. The community needs to take a good look at itself right now. They squandered opportunities that they had, not just with me, but across the board. There are consequences for this, and now in my district we’re going to see another two years of inactivity from an entrenched incumbent who doesn’t do anything. And it’s going to be the same in a lot of other districts.
“Our community needs to take stock of what’s really important to them, and I hope, if nothing else, this election will open up a greater conversation about politics in our country and our community.”
Jen Colletta can be reached at [email protected].