This has been an amazing, sleepless campaign.

A campaign that has been about convincing people, one by one, that ours was the campaign of ideas and energy.

We’ve done that, and I couldn’t be prouder.

We didn’t catch all the breaks. We didn’t have the support of the clubs or the career politicians.

Yet despite that, it appears that we finished third in a field of nine career electeds. More than 18,000 Manhattan residents supported our campaign.

To me, that makes this night even more meaningful – because every single one of our votes tonight was a vote we earned.

We earned it through hard work – through the blood, sweat and tears that we all shared.

We earned it because we never stopped talking about the things that matter:

Like real equality.

I’m tired of getting on buses at 5 in the morning to go up to Albany to lobby for things like equal benefits for the partners of officers killed in the line of duty – or to march across the Brooklyn Bridge for marriage equality.

Our campaign might come to an end tonight, but we’ll never stop fighting until we have real equality in New York.

And I’ve spent much of this race talking about the subtle racism and segregation that still exists in the inequality of services provided for those who live uptown and downtown – I call it the 96th Street divide.

Some people have been surprised to hear a candidate like me talk about things like asthma rates in Harlem --

But as long as kids are getting sick, we’ll keep fighting.

-- As long as HIV spreads as an epidemic.

-- As long as schools continue to crumble.

-- As long as senior citizens are forced to choose between meals and medicine – because this city can’t get its act together to buy drugs in bulk.

-- As long as we continue to lag on stem cell research and the environment.

-- As long as teachers don’t earn a fair living wage and –and efirefighters have to live in their parents’ basements out in Queens because they can’t afford to live in the Borough they protect.

-- As long as neighborhoods are torn down to build up highrise apartments and chain stores.

-- As long as the soul of Manhattan is threatened –

We will keep fighting.

This campaign may be over tonight, but we’ll always keep fighting for the City we love.

We knew from day one that this was a tough race. We knew it wouldn’t be easy.

And it’s true -- if we judge the success of this campaign on winning or losing, then we came up a little bit short.

But in my judgment, the final score is just a small part of our story.

When I think back on this campaign, I’ll think of the people who were inspired to action.

I’ll think of Antonio, our superstar intern, who I met at a Live Out Loud dinner where he was honored with a college scholarship.

I’ll remember with pride that we were able to show Antonio – and thousands of other gay kids and teenagers –

-- That they should live their lives proud and open and never apologize for who they are to anyone.

I’ll think of the thousands of people from across the country and literally throughout the world –

-- Who called and emailed us to say thanks for having the courage to introduce Simon on TV.

I’ll think of the young voters who were discouraged by last year’s presidential election –

-- But who were inspired by the idea that government really can be courageous, progressive and truthful.

I’ll think of the volunteers who rallied around us because we gave them the chance to feel good about voting again.

We have everything to be proud of – and I am grateful beyond words to every single one of you.

For all the people who have believed in us, and for the values we’ve stood for – I promise you that this is just the beginning.

Thank you.

We'll be posting more info on the race soon. Please click here to read Brian's remarks from last night's celebration.

Thank you again to everyone who helped out during this amazing campaign.

On Monday August 29th we announced a major ad buy airing on network and cable television. This groundbreaking spot makes history in New York City as the first time a gay or lesbian candidate appears with his or her partner in a TV advertisement. It received strong reviews, and has been featured in The New York Times, Time Out New York, AdWeek, and many other publications, blogs and television shows.

On Tuesday September 6th the New York Times reported that Fox had refused to air our ad. See our blog below for more, and tell us what you think about Fox's decision.

www.gothamgazette.com/campaign2005/57

www.ridorlive.com/?p=1276

blabbeando.blogspot.com/search/label/brian%20ellner

www.dailygotham.com/taxonomy/term/347

www.linkedin.com/pub/0/323/924

Today the campaign launched a new ad in which Brian talks about how progressive change starts here at home. He talks about how we need to get our priorities straight, focusing on the projects our neighborhoods need like affordable housing and new schools, rather than things like a West Side Stadium or Wal-Mart.

You can see the ad here, and please tell us what you think and where you saw it in the thread below.

Watch the Video (Quicktime 3.6MB)

Brian on NY1's Road to City Hall

Watch the Video (Quicktime 18.1MB)

Brian Discusses Marriage Equality

Watch the Video (Quicktime 2.0MB)

If you can't see the ad above, it means you don't have Quicktime installed. Click here to download Quicktime.

We'll post a Media Player friendly version of the ad soon, as well as a higher resolution version of this one. In the meantime, don't forget to check out Brian's first ad by clicking one of the links below.

Click here to view Brian's first ad with Quicktime.

Click here to view Brian's first ad with Window's Media Player.

Help Us Air Brian's Ad that Fox Banned: Contribute Now!


Help Elect Brian: Sign up to volunteer on Election Day!


Spread the Word: Tell a Friend About Brian's Campaign!

The NYCLU believes that Fox’s decision is a clear case of censorship based on content, and very well may be in violation of Federal law.

More details will be posted as they become available, but please use the thread below to discuss this new development.

• Join Brian in giving to relief efforts.
• Host a house party to raise funds.
  

• Send a message to the Governor supporting this bill.
• Vote for Brian and support his push for marriage equality in New York

• Watch the ad that FOX is banning.
• Tell your friends to watch the ad and support Brian on Sept. 13.
• Write or call FOX.

Change starts here at home. Please take action now to make sure Brian is victorious on Tuesday, September 13th.

Here's what you can do today!

1. Vote for Brian on September 13th! Find your polling location here.

2. Tell everyone you know about the campaign, and encourage them to view our new ad that Fox Network banned.

3. Volunteer on Election Day, and help elect a leader we can be proud of.

NEW YORK -- The Fox affiliate television station rejected a campaign commercial for a Democrat running in a local race, and the candidate alleges it's because the ad slams President Bush.

Ellner's advertisement has already drawn attention because it concludes with a scene in which he throws his arm around his partner of three years, Simon Holloway. His campaign says no openly gay candidates for public office have ever featured their significant others in political advertisements.

Ellner said Tuesday that Fox told the campaign media adviser and the ad buyer that the spot was refused because it was "disrespectful to the office of the president."

WNYW Fox 5 spokeswoman Brandii Toby said, "We're not running the ad." But she said the station had no comment on why the decision was made or who was responsible for it.

Ellner, 35, said he was disappointed.

"I think that it's a decision that's disrespectful to voters," he said. "I think it's anti-American."

He said he suspected Fox 5 also might have rejected the ad because it includes his partner.

Cable channel Fox News has been accused of a conservative slant that favors the Bush administration in its coverage. Executives deny the bias, although founder Roger Ailes, a former Republican party operative, has described Fox as an alternative to a left-leaning CNN.

Fox News did not return requests for comment.

Ellner spent about $290,000 to air the spot for two weeks on several network and cable affiliates, including WABC, WNBC and CNN, campaign manager David Meadvin said. No other stations refused to run it.

Meadvin said the campaign was considering filing a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission, which regulates broadcast channels.

Stations can reject commercials from interest groups based on content but are not permitted to do so with candidate ads.

However, Fox 5 may be able to defend its action by saying it isn't airing any borough president ads. FCC law says stations must give access to federal candidates but can decline to give airtime to certain local races.

Ellner, a native New Yorker who has served on community boards and district school boards, launched his campaign for borough president in early 2004.

When the Republicans held their presidential convention in New York a year ago, Ellner was one of thousands of protesters who marched past Madison Square Garden. He wore an "Ellner for Manhattan" T-shirt and spent the day campaigning.

New York City's five borough presidents exist primarily to advocate for their boroughs and don't wield much power.

Ellner, who says he's running for the office "to stand up for our progressive values," is not expected to win the nomination in the crowded Democratic primary, but the attention from his campaign advertisement is boosting his name recognition.

Gay rights groups from around the country have contacted his campaign and thanked him for including his partner in the ad _ a decision he says was not political. He said he thought it was time for gay candidates to join the ritual of including their loved ones in campaign commercials.

The current Manhattan borough president, C. Virginia Fields, is one of four Democrats running to replace Republican Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Copyright 2005 Newsday Inc.

NEW YORK The local Fox affiliate here has refused to run The Ad Store's spot for Manhattan borough presidential candidate Brian Ellner that lampoons President George W. Bush by pasting a photo of his head atop a naked middle-aged torso.

A representative from the local affiliate, WNYW, confirmed that it had decided not to run the ad, but declined to give a reason. Tim Arnold, managing partner of The Ad Store, said a Fox account executive told him that portraying the President naked was not respectful of the office.

This is the second time in a year that the New York independent has raised hackles at Fox, which pulled a second national rotation of its Super Bowl spot for GoDaddy.com in January. That ad parodied 2004's "wardrobe malfunction" by casting a bosomy actress to discuss the Web site hosting company in front of what appeared to be a Senate panel.

Despite that tangle, Arnold called the refusal "totally unexpected," adding that all other broadcast and cable networks had approved the ad.

"He's not naked, he's bare-chested from the waist up," Arnold said of the Ellner ad. "Clearly that is a form of parody that we used to get your attention."

While the camera pans away to reveal Bush's naked torso, a voiceover intones, "He says he promotes life, but sends our soldiers to die, He promises to leave no child behind, but won't fund our public schools. ... New Yorkers know the emperor has no clothes."

David Meadvin, Ellner's campaign manager, said his office had a team of lawyers reviewing legal options. "One thing we would want to avoid doing is something that would simply be a publicity stunt. If we pursue this it would be because there is firm legal ground for an action."

Meadvin added that Fox's refusal, "seems un-American. If Fox thinks it is disrespectful of us to criticize the president, we think its disrespectful of voters to deny them the message." The ad, Meadvin said, was not just about President Bush's shortcomings, but also "what Brian would do locally."

(New York City) Fox television has refused to run a campaign ad for Brian Ellner, a Democratic candidate for Manhattan borough president.
Ellner says that Fox5 told the campaign that the ad, which features a picture of President Bush superimposed on the body of a naked wrinkled man's torso is disrespectful and in poor taste. While the picture appears an announcer says "the emperor has no clothes."

"It's pretty clear it's an anti-free speech decision because of our criticism of the president," Ellner told the New York Times

"It's untenable and in my view it's anti-American." Ellner also said that the rejection of the ad was "disrespectful to voters."

The 30 second spot cost about $250,000. While Fox rejected the commercial other New York stations have agreed to run it. The ad can be seen online at Ellner's Web site

Considered a long shot, Ellner is one of nine candidates running for borough president. The race also includes lesbian Democrat Margarita Lopez a member of the city council.

©365Gay.com 2005

Watch the ad that Fox banned!

A local television station, WNYW/Channel 5, is refusing to run a provocative advertisement promoting a Democratic candidate for Manhattan borough president. And the campaign of the candidate, Brian Ellner, is charging that the station is doing so because the spot takes a swipe at President Bush.

Mr. Ellner said in an interview yesterday that representatives of Channel 5, a Fox affiliate, had told his campaign that they would not show the advertisement because it was "in poor taste."

"It's pretty clear it's an anti-free speech decision because of our criticism of the president," Mr. Ellner said.

"It's untenable and in my view it's anti-American." He added that the rejection of the ad was "disrespectful to voters."

Brandii Toby, a spokeswoman for Channel 5, said the station was indeed refusing to run Mr. Ellner's advertisement, but she said the station would provide no explanation.

Tim Arnold, a media adviser to Mr. Ellner, said the station had at first agreed to sell the campaign advertising time but then rejected the advertisement after seeing it. The campaign has already spent about $250,000 to put the ad on the air.

Mr. Arnold said that when he pushed for a more detailed explanation of the rejection, a station representative told him that the station believed the advertisement was "disrespectful of the office of the president."

Mr. Arnold said Channel 5 was the only local station to reject the advertisement out of roughly 15 network or cable affiliates - including NY1 News, WABC and WNBC - that the campaign said it approached. The campaign said it did not try to place the ad on WWOR, which like Channel 5 is part the Fox Television Stations group, a unit of News Corporation.

"They accepted the media plan without knowing what was coming," said Mr. Arnold, the managing partner of an advertising firm called the Ad Store, which produced Mr. Ellner's commercial. "I don't know what's in operation here."

If the station rejected the ad because of its content, it would appear to be skirting the line of broadcast regulations and communication law covering the showing of political commercials by local stations.

Broadcast channels, which are regulated by the Federal Communications Commission, are allowed to reject so-called issue advertisements from interest groups based on their content. But they are prohibited from doing so with ads from candidates.

"There is part of the statute that says the station cannot censor the content of a political ad," said a communications commission official who spoke on condition of anonymity, following the commission's general practice of avoiding public comment upon matters in which it is not involved. (The F.C.C. generally only acts on complaints; Mr. Ellner said he would probably file one but had not done so.)

The commission official said that after a station agrees to sell time for a campaign commercial, "the station is required to put it on the air - they have no option."

Still, the official said there was a way around the rules. While stations are required to accept all commercials for federal candidates, they can pick and choose the local races for which they will run commercials.

And stations in the past have cited that loophole after being accused of rejecting candidate spots based on their content.

Channel 5 could find some wiggle room on those grounds because none of the other Manhattan borough president candidates who are advertising on television are doing so on broadcast stations. They are so sticking instead to less expensive cable outlets.

Ms. Toby, the Fox 5 spokeswoman, declined to discuss the nuances of federal communication law during an interview on Friday.

Mr. Ellner, 35, a lawyer who advised Mark Green's mayoral campaign in 2001, is not considered a favorite to win the borough president's race and his advertisement was devised in part to jar voters into paying attention to his candidacy in a field of nine Democrats running for Manhattan borough president in next Tuesday's primary. Mr. Ellner's team devised the spot in large part to appeal to gays and lesbians, and the borough's more liberal voters in general. Fox's refusal to run the ad is likely to help Mr. Ellner's aims.

Channel 5 has the same corporate ownership as the Fox News Channel, the 24-hour cable news network. The Fox News Channel has come under frequent criticism from liberals, many of whom who have charged that it has a conservative, pro-Bush slant.

In August the Fox television stations unit came under the control of Roger E. Ailes, the Fox News Channel chairman. Brian Lewis, a spokesman for Mr. Ailes, said the decision about the Ellner ad was "made at the station level."