When did Sheila James Kuehl get into politics?
Sheila Kuehl
Kuehl was elected to the California State Assembly in 1994, becoming the first openly gay person elected to the California legislature. While running for office Kuehl found she was able to offset some negative stereotypes people had about lesbians thanks to their familiarity with her role as Zelda. She told an interviewer "When people know gay people personally, they tend to feel differently about the whole community. And all of a sudden, here's a person that they knew very well that they found out was lesbian."[11]
Julianna Smoot
Smoot was born in North Carolina, where she was a debutante in Raleigh and other towns. She graduated from Smith College in 1989; her fellow Deputy Campaign Manager Stephanie Cutter was a year behind. She took leave from her job at the American Trial Lawyers Association to be finance director of John Edwards's 1998 campaign for U.S. Senate. She met Pete Rouse and Steve Hildebrand on Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle's unsuccessful reelection campaign in 2004, where she raised $21 million. Rouse and Hildebrand brought her to the first Obama presidential campaign in January, 2007. She has also held positions with Senator Richard Durbin of Illinois and Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia. She worked in Senatorial campaigns for Chris Dodd and Harry Reid.