With the likes of Charlie Crist, Bill Nelson and Alex Sink looming over her bid for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, Nan Rich last week looked to appeal to liberal voters by stressing her support of same-sex marriage.
Rich sent a message to supporters on Tuesday, calling the U.S. Supreme Courts decision that the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was unconstiutional a welcome and historic step toward justice and equality for same-sex couples and vowed to fight to establish same-sex marriage in Florida.
Unfortunately, that decision only fully applies to those who reside in states that recognize same-sex unions, Rich wrote. Florida is not one of those states. Gay and lesbian Floridians remain subject to a state constitutional amendment that prohibits them from marrying the ones they love. Thats simply not fair and definitely not right.
Rich insisted she would support a new constitutional amendment that will allow Florida to join the rapidly growing ranks of marriage-equality states and noted she had been a longtime advocate for supporting equality and fairness for the LGBT community. Rich did not call out some of her potential Democratic rivals, but Crist and Nelson expressed their support for same-sex marriage earlier in the year. After spending most of his career as a Republican and defining marriage as only between a man and a woman, Crist expressed his support for same-sex marriage earlier this year. Nelson was one of the last Democrats in the Senate to call for the repeal of DOMA.
As a legislator and leader in the state Senate, I fought for legislation that would allow gays and lesbians to adopt without fear of being disqualified because of their sexual orientation, Rich wrote on Tuesday. It was the right thing to do and ultimately the courts agreed. As a result, hundreds of children across Florida now have permanent, loving, forever homes!
Rich even expressed her support of same-sex marriage in her message to supporters on Independence Day released on Thursday.
As the 2014 gubernatorial race starts to shape, Rich is something of an afterthought. Having been in the race for more than a year now, only in recent weeks has she found anything close to momentum, usually by attacking Crist, a former Republican, and Sink from the left.
Showcasing her liberal credentials might not be the best general election strategy. Unlike Sink and Crist, Rich did not beat out Rick Scott in a Quinnipiac poll released last month. In fact, Rich was the only Democratic candidate Scott beat out in the poll, leading her 42 percent to 36 percent.
The same poll found Rich was the most unknown candidate. Only 7 percent of Floridians have a favorable opinion of her while 6 percent see her as unfavorable. Even worse, more than a year after she entered the race and after leading Democrats in the state Senate for two years, only 12 percent of Democrats view Rich favorably while 2 percent see her as unfavorable. The vast majority of Floridians and even 84 percent of her own Democrats simply dont know enough about Rich to have a view of her.
With same-sex marriage in the news, Rich is looking to use the issue to raise her profile and her status with fellow Democrats. Look for Rich to be vocal in her support on same-sex marriage. Even if it doesnt propel her gubernatorial campaign, Rich could drag the likes of Sink and Crist to the left on the issue.
Tallahassee political writer Jeff Henderson wrote this analysis exclusively for Sunshine State News.
