Candidate Doesn’t Mince Words

“Gay male, HIV-positive.”

The words weren’t on Doug Halter’s campaign brochures, but he has made no secret of them, giving talks at schools and elsewhere on his 12-year bout with the AIDS virus.

In 1997, Halter ran unsuccessfully for Ventura City Council, becoming the first openly gay candidate for any office in Ventura County. He ran again this time, and, in a field of 12, seemed like a good bet to win.

He snagged the endorsement of both daily papers.

He was endorsed by the police, the firefighters, the Chamber of Commerce.

He was visible on many fronts: president of the downtown community council, board member of the chamber music festival, member of a city parks and recreation committee. He renovated a downtown church and turned it into the Laurel Theater, the newest addition to Ventura’s ceaseless quest for culture.

So when he came in fifth Tuesday night in the race for three council seats, he was shocked.

As he drove up to a family visit in Santa Cruz two days later, he laid his defeat--by about 500 votes--to those words that never appeared on his brochures: “Gay male, HIV-positive.”

“Did it make a difference?” he asked. “I definitely think it impacted me for at least 500 votes.”

Halter acknowledged that he could come off sounding like just another also-ran playing the blame game.

And, in truth, his examples of anti-gay bias don’t sound like the sort of things that necessarily sway hundreds of voters. There were some nasty e-mails, which he’s heard of but not seen. Another candidate made a crude joke about Halter’s homosexuality at a televised City Council meeting.

Angela Miller, a former Ventura County School Board member who now lives in Alabama, asked in a letter to a local paper whether Halter “has changed his position on homosexuality. If not, would his narrow agenda conflict with what is in the best interest of the majority of citizens in Ventura?”

But public salvos like that were rare.

Instead, Halter contends, some of his opponents spoke in a sort of code, using the sanctified phrase “family values” to suggest that he lacks them. “What they really meant by strong family values is strong fundamental Christian values--a man and a woman, with two kids. No drug education, no sex education, no AIDS education. God forbid we should recognize we’re a diverse community made up of different people.”

Donna de Paola, a Ventura council member who supported Halter, agreed that his sexual orientation may have repelled some voters.

But there were other factors as well. Halter and de Paola went door-to-door stumping for votes in the subdivisions of east Ventura, where, she said, his affiliation with the long, painful rebirth of downtown did him little good.

“One guy told me: ‘We’re middle-class! We have no use for fancy cheeses or fancy wine!’ He said he didn’t want his wife to go downtown and get her throat slit, and he slammed the door in our faces.”

Beverly Benton, a political consultant who has run a number of Ventura races, suggested Halter’s problem may have been bad marketing.

“It takes promotion,” she said. “If he undermailed, that simple factor could undercut all of his effective representation at forums, the breadth of his leadership and the affection that people have for him.”

Halter’s defeat wasn’t a tragedy for Ventura. The incumbents--Jim Friedman and Ray DiGuilio--were reelected. Carl Morehouse, an articulate urban planner, took the third seat.

But none of them had to jump the hurdles that Halter did.

Halter said he won’t run again. He plans to build a getaway cabin in Santa Cruz, but continue to live in Ventura, where he’ll lobby hard for mundane neighborhood improvements, like buried power lines and tighter speed limits.

“I’m not giving up,” he said. “Look at my endorsements--the chamber, the police, the firefighters. It shows that mainstream, established organizations in our community really don’t care about sexual orientation. I lost the election, but that’s a major win.”

Steve Chawkins can be reached at 653-7561 or by e-mail at steve.chawkins@latimes.com.