SAN DIEGO — A victory for Carl DeMaio, who is locked in a tight mayoral race, would make San Diego the second-largest city in the country to elect an openly gay mayor, and by far the largest to elect a gay Republican.
Yet, perhaps no group has opposed Mr. DeMaio as loudly as this city's sizable gay and lesbian population.
Angered by his reticence on gay issues and his acceptance of campaign donations from backers of Proposition 8, California's 2008 ban on same-sex marriage, parts of the crowd booed Mr. DeMaio at a mayoral debate at the gay and lesbian community center here. He was booed again as he walked hand in hand with his partner in this year's gay pride parade.
And many gay and lesbian leaders here have lined up behind Bob Filner, 70, a Democratic congressman and Mr. DeMaio's opponent in the Nov. 6 election.
"For Carl DeMaio to be elected mayor would not be a victory for gay and lesbian people," said Linda Perine, a longtime lesbian organizer. "It would be a defeat."
That Mr. DeMaio, 38, could become the next mayor of San Diego — long a conservative outpost in liberal California — offers more evidence of just how dramatically the political landscape has changed for gays and lesbians in recent years. But this race has also exposed the particular challenges that gay Republicans running for office continue to face, as they try to balance a desire to further gay rights against an appeal to conservatives who oppose gay marriage.
While that list of gays and lesbians running for public office has grown in recent years — Houston elected a lesbian mayor, Annise Parker, in 2009 and Tammy Baldwin is now challenging in Wisconsin to become the first openly gay United States senator — few have been Republican.
In part, Mr. Filner, a former Freedom Rider and outspoken advocate of gay rights, owes his wide support from gay voters to simple partisan politics: gays and lesbians across the country vote overwhelmingly for Democrats. Some refuse to support anyone affiliated with a party that this year made opposition to gay marriage part of its platform.
Mr. DeMaio said that it is only a small minority among gay voters, with ties to organized labor, that is so vocally opposed to him.
But the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, which supports openly gay candidates from both parties, did not endorse Mr. DeMaio. The local chapter of the Log Cabin Republicans, the party's leading gay political group, initially endorsed another candidate. But later, the local and state chapters endorsed Mr. DeMaio.
And he has also alienated some gay and lesbian voters who have supported Republicans like Jerry Sanders, the current mayor, whose tearful announcement of support for same-sex marriage in 2007 cost him some backers but rendered him a hero among many gays and lesbians.
"He stood up for us, and I felt it was our duty to stand up for him," Susan Atkins, the chairwoman of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, said of Mr. Sanders, whom she supported in 2008. But she will not support Mr. DeMaio.
While Mr. Sanders was campaigning aggressively against Proposition 8 four years ago, Mr. DeMaio stayed quiet on the issue as he ran for City Council in a conservative district.
Since then, Mr. DeMaio has stated his support for gay marriage, and voted to support gay causes on the council. But he has also accepted endorsements and campaign money from major donors to Proposition 8. And social issues like gay rights, he has repeatedly said, would not be a priority for him as mayor.
"I'm proud of San Diego that sexual orientation has not played an issue in this race," Mr. DeMaio said. "I've been running on fiscal reforms and prosperity to create jobs. That's the agenda that I think has brought so many diverse groups together."
That message has resonated with conservatives, and the Republican Party of San Diego County endorsed Mr. DeMaio over two other Republicans in the primary.
"Carl's been embraced by just about everyone," said Tony Krvaric, the group's chairman. "He has a lot in common with a lot of people on the fiscally conservative side."
Donald P. Haider-Markel, a political science professor at the University of Kansas and the author of "Out and Running," about openly gay candidates seeking public office, said that until recently gay Republicans candidates had largely run in Democratic districts.
But while gay Republicans remain unlikely to win races in the most conservatives parts of the country, he said, their map has expanded. He called this race — a local election in a politically moderate city — an "ideal" circumstance, and said Mr. DeMaio was savvy to focus on the economy.
"It's not really advantageous for candidates to focus on social issues at the local level," Professor Haider-Markel said, because major issues like same-sex marriage will be decided at the state and federal levels.
In a relentlessly negative race, it is Mr. Filner who has brought up gay issues far more often, as he has attacked Mr. DeMaio's record and tried to position himself as a champion of civil rights.
"He's beholden to these antigay financial interests," Mr. Filner said.
Mr. Filner has also criticized Mr. DeMaio's partner, the publisher of the San Diego Gay & Lesbian News, which has led some of Mr. DeMaio's supporters to accuse Mr. Filner of "gay baiting" — trying to draw attention to Mr. DeMaio's sexual orientation in hopes that social conservatives will decline to vote for him.
Jim Kolbe, an Arizona Republican who became the second openly gay Republican in the House when he came out in 1996, said he faced opposition similar to what Mr. DeMaio has encountered from gay voters, who he said viewed him as "not sufficiently supportive" of gay issues.
He said he wished more gays and lesbians would consider supporting Republicans.
"When I came out, it was nearly impossible for a Republican who was gay to run for office for the first time; that's no longer true," he said. "Within another 10 years, this will be a complete nonissue."
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: October 30, 2012
An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that the Log Cabin Republicans did not endorse Carl DeMaio for mayor of San Diego. The organization's local chapter initially backed another candidate, but later, it and the state chapter endorsed Mr. DeMaio.
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