Well, this is odd. The openly gay Pennsylvania House Republican who was at the center of homophobic remarks by a fellow Republican colleague lost his party’s nomination to a write in candidate by a few hundred votes, but he won the Democratic nomination by 15 write-in votes. Over the weekend, the Raging Chicken Press pointed out that Fleck was at the center of homophobic remarks made by State Senator John Eichelberger, who said:
“A lot of people thought Mike was a homosexual [before 2012]… If he had just gone out of his business and people thought he was a homosexual or heterosexual or whatever, there wouldn’t be a problem.”
and the Huffington Post reported:
“A lot of people thought that Mike was a homosexual,” Eichelberger said. “He didn’t announce it and it was OK. The feeling from many people is, he put them in a very uncomfortable position” by coming out.
On his facebook page, Fleck stated:
Rep. Mike Fleck (D) Three Springs. How’s that for an oxymoron. Thank you to the 15 democrats who put me over the top on the democratic write-in, with a final tally of 901-886. And thank you to the three thousand plus republicans who voted based on my job performance. While a lot can still happen legally, today is a new day and if we are ultimately successful in our bid to continue thru the fall. Rest assured, I will give it my all.
It’s good to see that Fleck will have the opportunity to fight for his seat and let’s hope the local and state democratic party embraces Fleck in this race.
