When Michael Gongora first sought a Miami Beach City Commission seat in 2006, he made it clear that he was not running as a "gay candidate." "In that first campaign it wasn't something I would bring up," Gongora said. "I was actually 'outed' on the radio by an opponent. It was brought up in a negative context to try to use as a negative against me." Despite his desire to run and to serve as a candidate and official who happened to be gay – as opposed to a "gay candidate" – Gongora said that first campaign demonstrated some of the challenges that LGBT candidates continue to have in election campaigns. In Gongora's case, he said that materialized in the shape of a whisper campaign.
