Alan Tart says anti-gay tricks led to election loss

By Project Q Atlanta | Nov 11, 2011 | 3:18 PM

Alan Tart eschewed support from LGBT groups and those Midtown gays in his bid for a second term on the Milton City Council. He lost on Tuesday and now, the gay elected official says anti-gay dirty tricks led voters to oust him.

File this under political irony.

Tart claims in an interview with the Atlanta Progressive News – among the media outlets he refused to talk to earlier this year about his success story of being a gay men elected to office in a conservative suburb – that two robocalls may have contributed to his 511-vote loss to Lance Large. On Tuesday, Large received 57 percent of the vote (2,137 votes) to Tart’s 43 percent (1,626 votes).

In one robocall, Tart says someone was impersonating him, while in another, a woman was speaking about him in third person.

“I am the only openly gay Democrat in North Fulton and it’s important to re-elect Alan Tart so that a progressive voice is heard on the city council,” one robocall said, according to Tart.

“As cited in the Georgia Voice, Atlanta Progressive News, and Project Q magazines [sic], Alan, as a progressive who is openly gay, is in a tight race against a conservative Republican Lance Large. Make sure to re-elect Alan Tart to keep a Democratic voice in a sea of Republicans,” another robocall said.

Tart hopes to turn one of the calls into an audio file and consult an attorney about possible legal action he can take against the effort, which he says “was meant to derail my campaign in the final hour.”

Tart has argued that being gay has nothing to do with his City Council gig. He declined to seek endorsements from LGBT political groups or seek out support from gay voters. But Tart did include his partner on his official city biography.

He was one of at least five LGBT candidates on Tuesday’s ballot. Two incumbents won – though one is headed to a runoff – and three, including Tart, lost.

UPDATE: Tart says he filed a complaint with state election officials.

Alan Tart says anti-gay tricks led to election loss

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