Sanders makes it official: He’ll run
Fallout unclear from gay-marriage switch
There is little question Mayor Jerry Sanders’ tearful turnaround in support of gay marriage Wednesday leaves him more vulnerable to conservative businessman Steve Francis in the June 3 election.
But even in this age of 24-hour analysis, it could take weeks to sort out how Sanders’ decision to abandon a campaign position he staked out in 2005 will affect his 2008 prospects with independents and moderates.
At Sanders’ first re-election fundraiser last night, the immediate effect was nebulous. A crowd of 400 to 500 people poured into the Town and Country Resort in Mission Valley to support Sanders as he formally declared his candidacy.
He was joined onstage by his wife, Rana Sampson, and his two daughters, Lisa, 24, and Jaime, 21, a family shoved into the national spotlight yesterday by Sanders’ announcement that Lisa is a lesbian.
“I wanted my family up here because over the last couple of years their family life has changed fairly dramatically,