West Hollywood Republicans Speak

Mar 26, 2012   //   by admin   //   Multimedia  //  Comments Off on West Hollywood Republicans Speak

Upon first glance, the term “West Hollywood Republican” may appear to be an enigma or even an oxymoron, but although they are significantly outnumbered, Republicans do live in the city and not all of them are hiding that fact.

Brad Torgan, an environmental lawyer and Republican resident of West Hollywood estimated the city’s Republican registration to be about 12 percent. “It can get pretty lonely sometimes,” said Torgan.

Scott Schmidt, a 10-year resident of West Hollywood, also knows the feeling.

“I believe in conservative values like limited government, fundamental freedoms, personal responsibility and on the large majority of issues, that leads me to agree with the Republican Party,” said Schmidt. “That makes it a little difficult in a town like West Hollywood, because we’re about 11 percent of the voters here, so there aren’t too many people like us in the city.”

In the 28 years since the city was incorporated, a Republican has never won a seat on the West Hollywood City Council although a former Republican has been elected.

Both Torgan and Schmidt are gay Republicans. Like Torgan and Schmidt, Dan Blatt, a blogger for GayPatriot.net, is a gay Republican who resides in West Hollywood.

“Once you develop the right attitude toward the politicization of gay identity we see in this town, it’s not a problem,” said Blatt.

“It is amusing watching people, who demand that others accept gay people, naturally assume that the only reason a gay person would be a Republican was because he harbors deep, dark demons.

“It seems that all too many folks here assume that if you feel a romantic/sexual attraction to members of your own sex, you must also support the big-government policies of the Democratic Party.”

Schmidt, too, sees the irony in the disrespect Republicans like him have received from the gay community: “It’s funny because, on a social level, often the people within the Republican Party are more accepting of gays and lesbians within their ranks than people in the gay community can be accepting (of) Republicans.” 

The vast majority of West Hollywood Republicans, however, do not hold many of the social viewpoints that Republicans tend to advocate, nationally.

“I believe in limited government and limited government means not just keeping your hands out of my wallet, but keeping your hands out of all facets of my life,” said Torgan. “For instance, when it comes to marriage equality, I don’t think government should expand its power to dictate which couples can take advantage of the civil rights and responsibilities that are accorded to marriage.”

Democratic city councilman John Heilman, who has served on the West Hollywood City Council since 1984, believes there is too strong of a disconnect between what these West Hollywood Republicans are advocating and what their national party platform promotes.

“I’m always confused when somebody says, ‘I’m proud and I’m gay and I’m Republican,’” said Heilman.

“To me it’s completely inconsistent with the party’s policies and with their practice over the last 50 years.

“They’ve been consistently against gay marriage, against any kind of equality (and) against protecting the gay community from hate crimes.”

But for Republicans like Schmidt and Torgan, faithful Republicans do not have to agree with the national platform on every single issue.

“There’s a very rigid perspective that because of one issue and it’s a very important issue that you have to go along with the party on everything else,” said Schmidt, in reference to the national Republicans’ failure to support gay rights.

“I happen to disagree with that.

“I happen to believe that if the Republican Party is going to change, it’s going to change because people like myself are standing up for the rights of all Americans within the party.” 

“Even a lot of them (West Hollywood Republicans) like me believe that marriage equality is a conservative value, not something that the liberals have sole ownership of,” agreed Torgan.

“This year, the party came fairly close to stripping out the anti-gay language in the party platform.

“It is a generational thing, but in part it’s moving quicker than that, because there are conservatives out there that are making the case for marriage equality.”

Heilman acknowledged that many West Hollywood Republicans are sincere, but asserted that their tactics were likely to be fruitless.

“I think there are some people who really believe in a lot of the tenets of the Republican Party and they’re trying to reform it and make it more progressive in terms of social issues,” said Heilman. “But I think they have a very, very difficult job, because all I see is the Republican Party moving further and further to the right on social issues, so I don’t know that they are actually being successfully in their efforts.”

Despite the odds, Torgan is running to represent the 50th Assembly District, a newly formed district that is comprised of Santa Monica, Malibu, Brentwood, West Hollywood, much of Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Pacific Palisades, Agoura Hills and a few other cities and communities. Although the district is not as liberal as West Hollywood, it is still predominantly Democratic.

In the race, Torgan is challenging three Democrats, including incumbent Betsy Butler, noted LGBT activist Torie Osborn and Santa Monica Mayor Richard Bloom.

Despite the political advantages of the three Democrats, some believe that Torgan can gain ground, because he is the only candidate from east of Santa Monica.

“Betsy Butler, Torie Osborn, Mayor Bloom all live in Santa Monica and all are going after that Santa Monica vote, so there’s a lot of the district left that is ripe for the picking for any of the candidates who are willing to go out and meet the voters and have those conversations in the district,” said Schmidt.

“Being the only one from West Hollywood and Hollywood, which is really the urban core of the district, I think gives me some perspectives that the other candidates don’t have,” said Torgan.

Heilman, however, asserted that place of residence would pale in importance when compared to the power of partisan affiliation.

“I think it helps Brad a little bit that he is known in the community and has served in the community, but the enthusiasm I’m seeing in West Hollywood is primarily around Torie Osborn, who was the director of the Gay and Lesbian Center for a period of time, and she’s pretty well-known,” said Heilman.

“And again, most of the people in the community are not going to vote for a Republican even if they know him (or) even if he’s from West Hollywood because their political alignment is different from them.”

Even Torgan, himself, acknowledged that he faces an uphill climb, but being a Republican does offer the candidate one advantage.

Due to the open primary nature of the election, Republicans and Democrats agree that Torgan has a decent chance of advancing past the June primary and into the November general election. In order for Torgan to advance, he must place first or second among the four candidates, which is a possibility if the three Democrats split the vote fairly evenly.

If Torgan were to make it to the general election, he would suddenly become disadvantaged, considering that the two weakest Democrats would no longer be able to take votes away from the top Democratic candidate. With that said, even a second-place finish (a loss in the general election) would allow Torgan to rise within the Republican Party.

Regardless of what happens, Torgan is one of a small, but vocal group of West Hollywood Republicans who are proud of the political values they hold dear. Although there are surely Republicans who hide their political views from their Democratic friends and neighbors, Republicans like Torgan and Schmidt have managed to gain a degree of respect and credibility in the city.

“I’ve been able to earn the confidence of at least three city council members, who have appointed me on to the transportation commission,” said Schmidt. “So as long as I’ve made them happy, I believe that they trust my judgment when it comes to the issues.”

According to Torgan, “I’ve been appointed by city council people in a city council that’s never had a Republican city councilman, so in that respect, there is respect.”

Undoubtedly, West Hollywood Republicans will continue to be vastly outnumbered for the foreseeable future, but it appears they do have a chance of making their voices heard.

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BIO

Aaron Fischman is a sports writer, editor and multimedia journalist, who currently hosts the On the NBA Beat podcast, a weekly interview show he co-founded with fellow USC alums Loren Lee Chen and brother Joshua Fischman in advance of the 2015-16 NBA season. On the podcast, he and the crew interview some of the league’s best reporters on their particular beat. Fischman is also currently hard at work on his first book, a nonfiction baseball story. Read more.