San Diego Mayor Complicates His Reelection Bid

Republican San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders just made his reelection campaign a little more difficult:

SAN DIEGO — Mayor Jerry Sanders abruptly reversed his public opposition to same-sex marriage Wednesday after revealing his adult daughter is gay.

Sanders also signed a City Council resolution supporting a legal fight to overturn California's prohibition on same-sex marriages. He previously said he would veto the resolution.

Sanders, a Republican former police chief, told reporters that he could no longer back the position he took during his election campaign two years ago, when he said he favored civil unions but not full marriage rights for homosexual couples.

"Two years ago, I believed that civil unions were a fair alternative," he said at a press conference. "Those beliefs, in my case, have since changed. The concept of a 'separate but equal' institution is not something that I can support."

He fought back tears as he said he wanted his adult daughter, Lisa, and other gay people he knows to have their relationships protected equally under state laws.

"In the end, I could not look any of them in the face and tell them that their relationships -- their very lives -- were any less meaningful than the marriage that I share with my wife Rana," Sanders said.

Now, will the gay rights advocates who opposed the Republican last time suddenly become supporters? And what will happen to the conservative support Sanders had last time?

They've had plenty of problems in local government in San Diego in recent years, and this won't make things work any smoother.