SAVE Dade snubs two gay candidates in Senate nod

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Miami-Dade’s premiere LGBT rights group came out with new endorsements Friday — and snubbed two gay candidates in one race.

SAVE Dade endorsed former prosecutor Jason Pizzo for the state Senate race in District 38 over former North Miami Mayor Kevin Burns and former Miami Beach Commissioner Michael Góngora — both of whom are openly gay, both of whom have won Champion of Equality awards and both of whom are, needless to say, verklempft.

“My track record on SAVE Dade is perfect. I’ve passed more LGBT legislation than anyone,” Góngora said.

Said Burns: “To choose somebody who doesn’t have a record, who hasn’t done one single thing for this community, is definitely questionable.”

But a look at the campaign reports might provide the answer as to why Pizzo — whose endorsement is announced at the same time as the endorsement for immigration activist Francesca Menes for State House District 108 — was picked: Both Menes and Pizzo hired Christian Ulvert as their campaign manager.

Ulvert was chair of SAVE Dade’s executive board until he stepped down last year over concerns that he was mixing business with activism. Ulvert owns Edge Communications and works with several political candidates and referendums on local campaigns. He helped get Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine and Miami-Dade Commissioner Daniella Levine Cava elected, worked for Dan Gelber’s campaign for Attorney General and is currently working on the Senate campaign for Jose Javier Rodriguez and the House run of Nick Duran. He may have resigned from the SAVE board in 2015, but he is a high profile Democrat (was recently political director for the Florida Democratic Party) who still influences SAVE behind the scenes. The executive director he hired is still there. His buddies are still on the board.

“I just don’t believe the process is a fair one,” Góngora said. “I believe it’s been tainted by money.”

Read related story: Michael Gongora, Jason Pizzo rack up endorsements for Senate

Ulvert did not return calls and ask for questions to be sent via email. He later responded that he had no involvement in the endorsement process.

SAVE Executive Director Tony Lima admitted that the fundraising was a key issue.

“The bottom line in that race is that Jason Pizzo has money and he’s viable. He’s viable and he has a solid plan,” Lima told Ladra. “Although Kevin Burns and Michael Gongora gave amazing interviews, Jason was the only candidate who had a plan to penetrate all the communities you need to get elected. The African-American community. The Haitian community… which is where I think Kevin and Michael fell short.

“We supported them in the past. But in such an important race where we need to make sure that Daphne Campbell is not elected, its important to make sure that we are supporting the most viable candidate that has the most viable plan,” Lima said.

But he said Ulvert, pictured here with President Bill Clinton, had absolutely no influence over the decision making in either endorsement. He said Menes was “another stellar story. She has a really good sense for what her constituency is made up of and what their needs are.”

Candidates are screened by a panel of constituents who make a recommendation to the endorsement panel who makes a recommendation to the board, Lima explained.

In a press release sent by the Pizzo campaign, SAVE Dade Director of Campaigns Justin Klecha said, “Our endorsement panelists from the community were duly impressed with Jason’s answers on issues of LGBTQ equality across the board. Jason is proudly running on a vision of a pro-equality future and support for pro-equality policies like the Florida Competitive Workforce Act.

But Góngora and Burns would, naturally, share that vision of pro-equality because they have lived it. And they both said that the SAVE Dade candidate screening committee did not ask questions about the issues. The panelists were more concerned about how much money the candidates would be able to raise, both men said.

Pizzo may be leading that contest with $400,000 he loaned to himself, but he’s only raised $35,500 compared to $77,000 raised by Góngora. That is a truer test of community support, no?

“I felt that the questions were stacked against us,” Góngora said. “They asked ‘Why would anyone in the minority communities vote for you?'”

Um, I don’t know. Maybe because he’s a Hispanic gay man who has fought discrimination for years.”

Added Burns: “It was definitely personality driven.”

Burns has been married to his partner for 21 years and they have a child they had to adopt in another state because of Florida’s ban on gay adoptions. He has testified in Tallahassee about having to establish a residency in Vermont so he could be a father. He was the first openly gay mayor of a large city in Florida and he added domestic partnership benefits for city employees. He also brought legislation that forced vendors with multi-million dollar city contracts to offer domestic partner benefits to their employees.

As a Miami Beach commissioner, Góngora appointed several LGBT members to city boards and committees, got domestic partnership benefits for city employees and sponsored revisions in the city charter to ensure LGBT protections, including transgender protections, were added to the human rights ordinance. He also worked with Equality Florida in sponsoring anti-bullying legislation in the state. He has worked closely with the Miami-Dade Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, the Aqua Foundation, Gay Pride Committee, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Equality Florida, SAVE Dade, Unity Coalition and the Trevor Project, the only 24/7 suicide hotline for LGBT youth.

“The fact that they didn’t find Michael or I worthy of their endorsement after the years of advocacy and promoting these issues that we’ve put in is disappointing to say the least,” Burns said.

“I live our issues every day and they decided to support someone who doesn’t even vote,” he added, referring to Pizzo’s voting record. The Miami Herald reported last month that Pizzo, who became a Democrat in April, had not voted since 2008 — skipping 17 elections.

Members of the LGBT community were also somewhat surprised and/or (if they know about Ulvert’s connections) disgusted with the snub.

“I’m both perplexed and upset. It’s shocking,” said Jackie Lalonde, a longtime donor and fund raiser. “It’s shocking.

She said she called SAVE Dade leaders for an explanation. “And I am getting the lamest rationale. They said Pizzo has a better game plan. That’s not a legitimate reason. It’s not that he’s a bad person. I don’t know him and that’s the point. He’s done nothing for our community.

“They should be making a recommendation for someone who has a long history of work and advocacy for the LGBT community,” said Lalonde, a Góngora supporter. “Michael has worked for decades not just for LGBT causes but for all in the community.”

She believes that Pizzo, who is apparently wealthy and has loaned $400,000 to his campaign for a $30,000-a-year job, gave a sizable donation to the non-profit organization.

“I do believe Michael will win in the end, but it is so discomforting as a gay member of this community to be back-stabbed and have it sell out for a political contribution,” Lalonde said.

“It makes me want to throw up.”

  Jason Pizzo, Kevin Burns, Michael Gongora