Gay Democrat wins election despite porn allegations
Ray Buckley was elected the first openly gay party chairman in the US on Saturday.
New Hampshire’s Democratic Party voted for him despite an ugly campaign in which he was accused, then cleared, of possessing child pornography.
According to AP, Buckley weathered the pornography accusations from state Representative Steve Vaillancourt, his former friend and roommate.
Buckley, 47, a former lawmaker, a member of the Democratic National Committee and chairman of the Manchester Democrats, received 109 of 132 votes, or 83 percent.
Buckley thanked party members who had been “incredibly strong and supportive” during the last three months, reports AP.
The accusations prompted him to withdraw from the chairmanship race in January.
When a two-month state investigation cleared Buckley, he got back in the race.
Earlier this month Manchester Republican chairman Joe Kelly Levasseur posted a video on YouTube, questioning Buckley’s membership in a “Gays in New Hampshire” online group.
Despite his decisive victory, the Boston Globe reports that some politicians are still uneasy about Buckley’s election.
For example, neither of the state’s two US Representatives endorsed Buckley.
US Representative Paul Hodes announced a week ago that he would not support Buckley after viewing one of the YouTube videos.
Hodes said he feared Republicans would use Buckley as a punching bag and drag the party down.
The Globe reports that Buckley said he has “moved on” from the controversies from the last 11 weeks.
He vowed to work with the new state Republican chairman Fergus Cullen to try to cleanse political discourse in the state.
“After what I have gone through, I have changed, and [ending negative attacks] is my issue,” said Buckley.
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