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Richard Tisei is not a candidate you see every day: pro-abortion rights, openly gay, member of the Massachusetts state legislature and Republican.
But Tisei, the GOP nominee for the sixth Congressional district of Massachusetts-- which encompasses the state's north shore-- is shaping up to be one of the Republican Party's strong chances to pick up a seat from Democrats. And he's certainly their best chance to pick up a House seat in the deep blue state, where currently all 10 representatives are Democrats.
If elected in the fall, Tisei would become the first openly gay Republican member of Congress. It's a distinction Tisei says he embraces.
"I feel like yeah I'm probably--- I might be the catalyst because I'd be one of the first people to break through and I embrace that," Tisei told ABC News. "I'm not afraid of being myself."
Tisei, the former minority leader of the Massachusetts state Senate, has had a long career in state politics. First elected to the state house at age 22, he's currently on his 15th campaign- and he boasts a near perfect victory record, 13 wins, 1 loss. He ran for lieutenant governor with Republican gubernatorial nominee Charlie Baker in 2010 and lost to Deval Patrick.
He served in the state senate during Mitt Romney's tenure as governor- but like another high-profile Republican candidate in his state, Scott Brown, Tisei maintains a political distance from the GOP presidential nominee. He voted with Romney 54 percent of the time during Romney's term, and voted against him 46 percent of the time, Tisei told ABC News.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/rising-republican-star-openly-gay-meet-mass-house/story?id=17313180
But Tisei, the GOP nominee for the sixth Congressional district of Massachusetts-- which encompasses the state's north shore-- is shaping up to be one of the Republican Party's strong chances to pick up a seat from Democrats. And he's certainly their best chance to pick up a House seat in the deep blue state, where currently all 10 representatives are Democrats.
If elected in the fall, Tisei would become the first openly gay Republican member of Congress. It's a distinction Tisei says he embraces.
"I feel like yeah I'm probably--- I might be the catalyst because I'd be one of the first people to break through and I embrace that," Tisei told ABC News. "I'm not afraid of being myself."
Tisei, the former minority leader of the Massachusetts state Senate, has had a long career in state politics. First elected to the state house at age 22, he's currently on his 15th campaign- and he boasts a near perfect victory record, 13 wins, 1 loss. He ran for lieutenant governor with Republican gubernatorial nominee Charlie Baker in 2010 and lost to Deval Patrick.
He served in the state senate during Mitt Romney's tenure as governor- but like another high-profile Republican candidate in his state, Scott Brown, Tisei maintains a political distance from the GOP presidential nominee. He voted with Romney 54 percent of the time during Romney's term, and voted against him 46 percent of the time, Tisei told ABC News.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/rising-republican-star-openly-gay-meet-mass-house/story?id=17313180