Fred Karger

In 2010, after a quarter century as a political consultant and half a dozen years as a political activist, I decided to run for president.  Besides the fact that I’d never held elected office; would be the first openly gay person to seek a major party nomination; and was running as a moderate, pro-choice, Republican; it seemed  destined to be a cakewalk. 

Seriously, though, despite knowing I had zero chance of being the Republican nominee in 2012, there was a method to my madness. Contemplating my run, I took inspiration from one of my heroes, Shirley Chisholm, the first African American woman to serve in Congress and, in 1972, the first African American in a major party to run for President of the United States. She later explained: “I ran for the presidency, despite hopeless odds, to demonstrate the sheer will and refusal to accept the status quo. The next time a woman runs, or a black, a Jew, or anyone from a group that the country is ‘not ready’ to elect to its highest office, I believe that he or she will be taken seriously from the start.”

I wanted the next generation to see first hand that it was possible for a gay man or woman to seek the highest elected office in the land…and be taken seriously while doing so.  That dream came to pass last year in the person of the remarkable Pete Buttigieg.  Although Pete did not win, he was certainly taken seriously.  Just as I hope my candidacy made it a little easier for him to run, his candidacy will make it a lot easier for others from the LBGTQ community to run in the future.

I met Pete for the first time in February 2019.   I had a copy of his autobiography with me and asked him to sign it it.  His words make the book one of my prized possessions:  “For Fred Karger: A trailblazer who made it a little easier to those who follow your path.”