A Lesbian Mayor?  Long seen as a leading contender, City Council Speaker Christine
Quinn formally launched Sunday what she hopes will be a history-making
mayoral bid.

A veteran of city politics, Quinn would be a groundbreaking mayor
across two personal dimensions: She would be the first female and first
openly gay mayor to lead the nation’s largest city.

According to a Quinnipiac University poll released last week, 37 percent of Democratic voters favor Quinn, meaning she’s closing in on the coveted 40 percent mark needed to avoid a run-off primary.

In other good news for Quinn, 78 percent of New York City voters are
either “comfortable” or “enthusiastic” about the prospect of an openly
gay New York City mayor.

In fact, more New Yorkers are in favor of a gay mayor than they are
with a business executive running the city. Only 57 percent of New
Yorkers in the poll said they were “comfortable” or “enthusiastic” about
the prospect of another Bloomberg-like candidate.