Voice for Equality: Dede Scozzafava

Dede Scozzafava is an American Republican politician in New York. She has represented District 122 in the New York State Assembly, which includes most of St. Lawrence and Lewis Counties in the North Country and a small portion of Oswego County since 1999. She was the Republican nominee to run for the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2009 special election in New York's 23rd congressional district. Many notable conservative Republicans, including former Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin, Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota and former U.S. Senator Fred Thompson, endorsed Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman rather than the Republican candidate because they deemed Scozzafava insufficiently conservative. Due to her campaign becoming a national focal point, and with less than robust support from the Republican National Committee, Scozzafava suspended her campaign shortly before the election and threw her support to the eventual Democratic winner, Bill Owens. Learn more here.

Dede Scozzafava has established herself as an open-minded Republican who votes for what she believes is right rather than following conservative party doctrine, especially on social issues. A pro-choice supporter, she has also consistently made the case when it comes to marriage equality that supporting loving couples should not be a partisan issue. She voted in support of the freedom to marry when it first came up in the New York State Assembly in 2007, and has stood her ground ever since. [Link]

Freedom to Marry salutes Dede Scozzafava as a Voice for Equality! Learn about other Voices for Equality here.

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