An openly gay Republican incumbent state legislator is fighting for his seat in a reelection campaign that is forcing his constituents to weigh their views on LGBTs against his strong track record in Harrisburg.
Mike Fleck serves the 81st District — which encompasses parts of Huntingdon, Mifflin and Centre counties — and has done so since he first took office in 2006.
Fleck came out as gay in a December 2012 interview with a local newspaper in Huntingdon County. He is the first and only openly gay Republican state legislator in Pennsylvania. Rep. Brian Sims (D-180th Dist.) and retiring Sen. Jim Ferlo (D-38th Dist.) are the only other openly gay members of the legislature.
Fleck was unseated in the May 20 primary by a write-in campaign from Huntingdon County Treasurer Richard Irvin, receiving approximately 3,394 votes to Irvin’s 3,700. But he received 15 more write-in votes on the Democratic ballot than Irvin, 901-886, meaning he could run as a Democrat in the November election. It is not uncommon for candidates in overwhelmingly Republican districts in Pennsylvania to appear on both parties’ ballots.
Fleck has made it clear that he has no intention of switching parties, despite the fact that he is running on the Democratic ballot.
“We have been knocking on thousands of doors, and have spent a lot of money on this campaign. But ultimately it comes down to, will people vote for a gay man?” he said.
The Nov. 4 election will gauge just how much of an issue it is for the 81st. If he wins, it will speak to his point that his sexuality is a non-issue, with his record in Harrisburg to thank. If his constituents don’t vote for him, are they prepared to lose their strongest advocate on the Hill?
Since Fleck’s narrow victory in the primary, conservative PACs like the PA Family Institute have attempted via attack ads and mailers to cast him as a “liberal” who has “switched sides” and “toed the party line,” making this year’s campaign more about his sexuality while drawing Fleck’s constituents’ attention away from the fact they had seemingly been consistently pleased with his performance in Harrisburg over the past eight years — he received 100 percent of the vote in 2008, ’10 and ’12, running unopposed.
PFI, with the help of state Sen. John H. Eichelberger (R-30th), held a rally in Huntingdon before the primary election during which Fleck was blasted for his support of the LGBT-inclusive nondiscrimination bill.
Fleck’s opponent, Irvin, has stated that he is not running against Fleck because of his sexual orientation. It should be noted that the attack ads and mailers have not come from the Committee to Elect Rich Irvin.
“I have no personal issue with the fact that he is gay,” Irvin told New York Times for a September 2013 profile on Fleck.
But that has not stopped Irvin from trying to equate Fleck’s acceptance of his own sexuality and support of LGBT-centric legislation as a political drift to the other side of the aisle — something that Fleck’s voting record mostly proves otherwise.
“That’s the political climate we live in,” Fleck said. “People are not really looking at my voting record. The opposition has done a good job of saying I am a liberal, but they really can’t point to much.”
Fleck did support anti-discrimination legislation, and has drawn ire from some of his colleagues for being “pro-labor,” but the 81st has seen Fleck step up and speak on its behalf in Harrisburg on several occasions, in line with his party’s stance on such issues — successfully upholding the interests of its constituents.
While serving on the House Education Committee, he prevented a school-choice vouchers bill that would have meant major funding cuts for his rural school districts and almost certainly the closing of some schools. To this day, all schools in his district remain open.
Fleck rallied legislators to stop a bill that would have privatized the state Department of Nursing, which would have cut jobs and funding from his districts’ largest employers — two state prison and correctional facilities.
In addition to securing millions of dollars for water and sewage infrastructure upgrades, Fleck has helped jumpstart the revitalization of the East Broad Top Railroad with millions in state grant money to bring back one of the area’s largest tourist attractions — which he hopes will be up and running soon, he said.
In an area where Fleck says “there are not a lot of ‘out and proud’ people” because, “many people view it as a sin here — something unnatural and wrong,” he is glad to be among the few who live by example.
“Mentalities won’t change around here until there are more people that don’t leave for the city, and just openly live their lives here, not necessarily pushing any agenda,” he said.