Campaigning in COVID-19 can have unexpected outcomes.

With just a month to go until the midterm elections, politics is moving into the heart of Wilton Drive.

I am Naomi Esther Blemur, your Democratic Nominee for Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

“Rights are won only by those who make their voices heard,” said Harvey Milk, the seminal gay rights activist and politician assassinated in 1978.

HOUSTON -- The latest on voting on the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (all times local):

In a tough blow to LGBT people everywhere, Houston voters on Tuesday repealed a year-old non-discrimination ordinance –a repeal that appeared to be largely driven by fears that it would enable sexual predators to enter women’s restrooms to assault young girls.

Kate Brown became the first openly LGBT person to be elected governor, winning the office in Oregon November 8. Elsewhere in the nation, there were only a few scattered “firsts” to be celebrated, and 61 percent of 188 openly LGBT candidates this year won their races.

According to a poll taken by the American Psychological Association, 52% of Americans polled said that the presidential election is a “significant source of stress” in their lives. As one American who has been stressed out by the most tumultuous election in my lifetime, I am surprised that more Americans have not been driven to the brink of insanity. We have unpopular candidates; an angry and divided nation; discredited institutions; a mistrusted press; and social media that brings out the worst in people. Though previous elections were not without controversy or scandal, they tended to remain in the background of our lives until Election Day (unless, of course, we were involved in a campaign). Today the 24-hour media keeps bombarding us with the crimes, follies and misfortunes of candidates, their families, staff and allies, until we are sick and tired of it. To run for office means having your life dissected by a basket of deplorables (to quote one of Hillary Clinton’s most unfortunate phrases) who spout their hatred on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Snapchat under the cover of anonymity. Whoever is elected President on November 8 will be hated by half the population, who with their supporters in office will try to make her administration a living hell.

“Santos” is the Spanish or Portuguese word for “Saints.” George Santos, the recently elected, gay Republican Congressman from New York, is far from saintly.

Elections have consequences. The power to nominate federal judges, especially members of the United States Supreme Court, became a major issue during the 2016 presidential election between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.

(CNN) -- Vice President Joe Biden ended months of intense speculation about his political future on Wednesday by announcing he wouldn't seek the presidency, abandoning a dream he's harbored for decades and putting Hillary Clinton in a stronger position to capture the Democratic nomination. With President Barack Obama at his side in the White House Rose Garden, Biden said the window for a presidential campaign "has closed."

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Of the three candidates in the race for mayor of Wilton Manors, Josie Smith-Malave would likely be considered the novice.  

Julie Carson’s 2020 latest campaign began in a straightforward fashion — a familiar run for re-election to the Wilton Manors City Commission.  

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Republican Gov. Sam Brownback vowed Monday to defend Kansas' ban on same-sex marriage, while Democratic challenger Paul Davis said during a debate Monday that there's nothing either of them can do at this point because the matter is in the hands of the courts.

Ken Keechl, who served as the first openly gay mayor of Broward County, has filed to run for Fort Lauderdale City Commission.

Teri Johnston, the first lesbian mayor of Key West, won her bid at a second term as the island’s mayor Tuesday night capturing 59% of the vote. 

Tina Kotek won a hard-fought campaign for Oregon Governor, promising to unite a state ravaged by homelessness and crime.

Tuesday was a good night for LGBT candidates and an historic one for transgender candidates. There were at least 71 openly LGBT candidates in 23 states. Of those, 55 percent won, 35 percent lost, and the results of 10 percent were not yet settled as of deadline.

With less than a month until the midterm elections, the race for one South Florida congressional district appears to be narrowing.

Lesbians can look to Oregon for inspiration as the midterm elections heat up.

Dear Editor, there is no place in Wilton Manors for negative campaigning and personal attacks.

Elections — we win some, we lose some. But last Tuesday’s election wasn’t particularly a regular election with a winner and a loser.

The negative campaigning going on in the local election is unconscionable to me and I do not condone such behavior.

It was a hard night for Democrats Tuesday, as candidates for governor in two heavily Democratic states lost enormous support — and at least one of the two seats — to Republicans.

Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, a popular Democrat in a deeply blue state, coasted to victory Tuesday as predicted, becoming the first lesbian to be elected governor of any state.

Although many anti-LGBT bills have been introduced in 2022, this year also has a historic number of out candidates running for office. 

With state-sanctioned hate spewing from every corner of the Republican-controlled legislature and Gov. Ron DeSantis, Florida’s LGBT community is looking to send as many allies as it can to Tallahassee.

In October former presidential candidate Joe Biden told the Philadelphia Gay News he would “make enactment of the Equality Act a top legislative priority during my first 100 days — a priority that Donald Trump opposes.”

Many political analysts will be watching the Nov. 8 election returns to gauge the health of American democracy and see which political party will control the U.S. Senate and U.S. House.

In the final weeks of Campaign 2020, South Florida’s largest LGBT political groups are pushing hard to make sure gay voters and their allies are registered, and know how to cast their ballots.