Number of disabled candidates grows in this year's elections.
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by Leroy F. Moore Jr. It has been almost 74 years since Franklin D. Roosevelt hid his disability to the world as President of the United States. In this year’s election people with disabilities are running for political office in record numbers from Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Senate, House of Representatives and State Assembly local Supervisors. There are candidates with disabilities not only on the two major political party tickets, Republican and Democrat, but also on third party tickets as well, such as the Green Party and the newly formed Green-Rainbow Party in Massachusetts. In Massachusetts 30-year-old Martina Robinson, an African American with cerebral palsy, is running on the Green Rainbow party ticket, against three White non-disabled men- Republican Reed Hillman, Democrat Tim Murray and Independent John J Sullivan for Lieutenant Governor. This election year has also brought diversity among disabled candidates running for office from Tammy Duckworth, a Filipino disabled Iraq war vet who is running in Illinois for the House of Representatives to the late Chris Crowder, who was running for Mayor for the Statehood Green Party. Crowder was an African American disabled community activist of DC who was shot in his wheelchair on July 8th. Duckworth is not the only war veteran running for political office, Democrat Phil Avillo, a disabled Marine veteran of the Vietnam War and a York College professor is running in Pennsylvania's 19th District for the House of Representatives. These are just two of the many war veterans running in this year’s elections. In fact, there is a documentary on war veterans running for Congress entitled °ßTaking The Hill°® that will air after the election on the Discovery Channel. The cable station noted that, “at no time in history have so many veterans run for national office at the same time.°® Although the people of Winnipeg, Canada, elected a quadriplegic, Sam Sullivan as Mayor last year, here in the US we had only one physically disabled candidate running for Mayor, Chris Crowder. Crowder was the only physically disabled candidate among 12 candidates who had filed official petitions to run for mayor. There are two other Lieutenant Governor’s races that involve seasoned political officers, Democrat, David Paterson, of NY and Republican Kristen Cox of Maryland. Both are blind. Paterson is the state Democratic This election year we are seeing young disabled candidates who are political newcomers. For example, 28 year-old, Brooke Ellison of New York City is running in District 2 (that covers Suffolk County, Long Island) as a Democrat for state Senate against John J. Flanagan, a Republican who has been in the State Legislature for 20 years. At age 11 Ellison was hit by a car and was paralyzed from the neck down and now depends on a ventilator to breathe. Although this is her first time in the political arena, Ellison has achieved many goals in her young life. An honors graduate of Harvard University, Brooke majored in neuroscience and delivered the 2000 commencement address. Brooke also received a Masters degree in public policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. In January 2002, Brooke and her mother, Jean Ellison, published their joint autobiography, Miracles Happen , which was later made into a movie directed by Christopher Reeve. In the San Francisco Bay Area there are disabled newcomers as well as incumbents running for office. For example, in the Alameda, District 16 Assembly race Eddie Ytuarte of Oakland is running on the Peace & Freedom Party against Sandré Swanson. District 16 includes most of Oakland, all of Alameda and Piedmont, and part of Emeryville. In addition, San Francisco Board Supervisor, Democrat Michela Alioto-Pier is up for reelection in District 2, which includes Pacific Heights and the Marina. Alioto-Pier was paralyzed from the waist down in a ski-lift accident in 1981 when she was 13. Alioto-Pier is the granddaughter of former San Francisco Mayor Joseph Alioto, and the niece of Angela Alioto, former President of the SF Board of Supervisors. She is expected to win in this year’s election. Seventy- four years later, the thing that FDR worked so hard to keep a secret from the public, his disability, is finally being respected and celebrated in party after party. This year’s election is hopefully just the beginning of an everlasting trend. Leroy F. Moore Jr. On The Outskirts: Race & Disability Consultant |