Washington Blade - October 1, 2004
Lou Chibbaro Jr., lchibbaro@washblade.com.

Catania's announcement came eight months after he withdrew his support for President Bush because of the president's backing of a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. The announcement also comes four months after the chair of the D.C. Republican Party ousted Catania from his elected post as a Bush delegate to the Republican National Convention.

D.C. GOP Chair Betsy Werronen, who called Catantia's departure a loss to the party, said she had to remove him from his delegate post because he stated he would work for Bush's defeat.

"Today marks the end of my journey as a Republican," Catania said in a statement released on Sept. 29. "On a personal note, this decision is extremely painful and difficult," he said. "It will almost certainly lead to a loss of cherished friends within the Republican Party for whom I have an enormous amount of respect and gratitude."

But he added, "In spite of this fact, I will no longer rationalize my association with a political party that has so badly betrayed my values and principles."

Although Catania has criticized the Republican Party in recent months for its opposition to gay rights, his statement this week made no direct mention of the party's anti-gay positions, including its 2004 platform endorsing a constitutional ban on gay marriage.

Instead, Catania focused on his longstanding effort to persuade the party to improve its position on the plight of cities. He cited his record of introducing legislation in the D.C. Council to promote job training, economic development and homeownership as part of his "urban agenda" proposals.

"The Republican Party's disinterest in the welfare of America's cities is self-evident," Catania said. "The Republican Party's urban legacy reads like a deliberate effort to undermine and diminish our cities: more assault rifles, fewer police officers, less job training, lower wages, fewer jobs, more poverty, increased uninsured, etc.," he said.

"The indifference, intolerance, and injustice now associated with the Republican Party are too unbearable to ignore or forgive," he said.

Gay D.C. Republican activist Carl Schmid said Catania's departure from the party left him "extremely disappointed."

"This didn't have to happen," Schmid said. "I feel the issues could have been resolved between the local party and him."

Schmid said he disagrees with Catania over the GOP's urban agenda, saying the Bush administration has developed important policies and programs to address issues such as housing, education, and health care, including AIDS-related programs.

Mayoral campaign coming?

Political observers are likely to view Catania's latest statements as possible positioning for a future run for mayor, a race that many of his backers have urged him to enter. Catania, who is 36, has said repeatedly that he has no immediate plans to run for mayor.

But his withdrawal from the Republican Party clearly would improve his prospects for a mayoral run in a city where Democrats outnumber Republicans by a margin of more than nine to one.

"My decision to re-register as independent has nothing whatsoever to do with any future plans that I have," Catania said in a phone interview Wednesday. "It has everything to do with how I feel today about being associated with a party that is preoccupied with intolerance and indifference toward things I care about," he said.

Catania said he stressed his concern about the Republican Party's shortcomings on urban issues in his written statement because he had been talking about his split with the party over gay issues for the past several months.

The gay issues have been among the most important factors behind his decision to leave the GOP, he said. "But they have by no means been the only issue. It's all tied together. Part of the urban agenda that I was trying to construct including having the Republican Party reach out to the constituencies that disproportionately populate cities, which include racial minorities and gays and lesbians."

Catania, an attorney, stunned the city's political establishment when he first won his at-large seat on the D.C. Council in a special election in 1997. His outspoken efforts to push for citywide reforms, including improvements in the city's AIDS office, have attracted strong support from Democratic voters, including gay Democrats.

He has emerged as one of the Council's strongest and most outspoken supporters of gay rights issues. Earlier this year, he introduced a resolution placing the Council on record opposing a constitutional amendment introduced in Congress to ban gay marriage. The resolution passed by unanimous vote.

Catania also sponsored a separate resolution introduced by gay Councilmember Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) calling on Mayor Anthony Williams to recognize same-sex marriages issued in Massachusetts and other states.

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