Capitol Alert: Race to replace Tauscher spurs 'don't ask, don't tell' issue

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Capitol Alert

The latest on California politics and government

June 5, 2009

Race to replace Tauscher spurs 'don't ask, don't tell' issue

The still unscheduled special election to replace outgoing Bay Area Rep. Ellen Tauscher may soon become fodder for the national debate of the U.S. military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

Tauscher, who is leaving her East Bay seat to join the Obama administration, is the sponsor of the Military Readiness Enhancement Act of 2009. The House bill would repeal the policy and allow veterans forced out of the armed services for admitting they were gay to re-enlist.

Today, Dan Choi, a Arab linguist and lieutenant in the New York Army National Guard who declared he was gay on national television, endorsed a West Point classmate with a similar story to replace Tauscher.

Anthony Woods, an Army captain and Iraq War veteran who was discharged after telling his commanding officer he was gay, is running in a crowded field that will likely include Lt. Gov. John Garamendi, Assemblywoman Joan Buchanan and state Sen. Mark DeSaulnier.

A special election date is to be set once Tauscher is confirmed as Obama's undersecretary of state for arms control and international security.

Choi, who plans to campaign in the district for Woods, is waging a highly publicized fight against his dismissal from the military. It extends to his advocacy for Woods, whom he endorsed today as "a leader and an officer of the highest caliber."

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