Name Victoria Sigler Home Biscayne Park, Florida Profession Executive Assistant, Office of the Public Defender Office Sought Dade County Court Judge Election Date Early September 1994 Victoria Sigler for Dade County Court Judge With Florida's gay and lesbian community mobilizing to fight the American Family Association's effort to pass a statewide anti-gay referendum, the stage is set to elect Victoria Sigler to the bench. Sigler is a top-notch litigator and an articulate and passionate advocate for women's, minority and gay rights. She has the skills and determination necessary to win this judgeship, and her victory would help counteract the antigay backlash in Florida and the legacy left to Dade County by Anita Bryant and her homophobic Save Our Children campaign. The Campaign Sigler is running in a countywide race for an open seat as Dade County Court Judge, which gives her the advantage of not facing an incumbent. Although easily qualified to run for a Circuit Court seat, Sigler chose the County Court in the interest of thinning out the opposition and maximizing her ability to win. As a former college professor, current litigator and civic volunteer, Sigler has had significant name exposure in Dade County since 1974. She began her campaign 20 months before the election to get a jump on the field, locking up key endorsements and building a substantial war chest to discourage other candidates from entering the race. Raising early money to build early name recognition is a vital factor in Sigler's strategy, as is early networking with her contacts in the legal, educational, gay and women's communities. Sigler has already locked up an impressive 500 endorsements, including the heads of the Dade County Black Boycott, the presidents of the Black Lawyer's Bar Association and the Dade Action PAC, the Dade County Public Defender and local community leaders. The Candidate Sigler's depth of trial experience makes her an outstanding candidate for this judgeship. She earned a winning reputation and the respect of her colleagues while working her way up the ranks of the largest public law firm in the United States. As Executive Assistant at the Office of the Dade County Public Defender (one of the largest offices in the nation), Sigler manages 175 attorneys and oversees approximately 50,000 cases a year. Immediately prior to this responsibility, Sigler litigated cases involving the death penalty. She has lived and worked in Miami since 1974, when she began teaching at Miami-Dade Community College. In her six years at Miami- Dade, she developed community outreach programs including a night school curriculum for non-traditional students, Hispanic and Haitian immigrants, and women returning to the work force. Her volunteer work in the community includes organizing immigrant and minority voter registration programs, providing legal counsel for Safespace, the battered women's clinic, providing pro bono legal assistance for women with child custody problems and raising funds for children's shelters through the Save the Children Foundation. Because of her dedicated professional and volunteer activities, Sigler's name has become synonymous with public service. The District Dade County is larger than the state of Rhode Island. Its population of approximately 1.2 million people comprises about 790,000 registered voters. The county is a multi-ethnic, multi-racial environment with a growing active and vocal gay and lesbian population. The county is almost evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats, and Hispanic and non-Hispanic voters, with a significant retiree population. The strength of the Democratic party helped deliver Dade County in the 1992 Presidential election. Judicial races are held at the same time as the state's primary election. Approximately 20 to 30 percent of all registered voters turn out to vote in the primary. Based on past election turnout, it takes about 65,000 to 80,000 votes to win a judgeship. One of the interesting phenomena of the last two judicial elections is the dominance of women judicial candidates at the polls. In the 1992 election, for example, no male candidate defeated a female candidate. Sigler's race will benefit greatly from the district's current perception that women make better judges. Working for the Gay and Lesbian Community Sigler was a founder, board member and secretary of the Gay and Lesbian Lawyers Association, a voluntary bar association incorporated in the State of Florida and recognized by the Florida Bar Board of Governors. As a representative of the organization, Sigler successfully lobbied the Florida Bar to pass an ethics rule prohibiting attorneys and court personnel from discriminating against persons on the basis of sexual orientation and preventing law firms from discriminating in their hiring and promotion practices. She also serves as a mentor for gay and lesbian law students at local schools, helping them develop resum‚s and job contacts. As a community activist, Sigler has raised food donations for the Miami CURE AIDS NOW network and is a pro bono attorney for people with AIDS through the Dade County Bar Association. She helped organize the women's delegation to Gay Games III and is currently organizing and raising funds to take a delegation to Gay Games IV. Can She Win? Of course she can. Sigler faces a long and expensive campaign because of the sheer size of Dade County and its large, diverse population. But she has made significant strides in the first ten months of her campaign, already garnering key endorsements, a large volunteer staff and early money. Why Victoria's Election Matters to You A county court judge handles civil matters under $15,000 and/or criminal misdemeanors, drunk driving and other traffic offenses. The county court is the real "people's court" and the judge has significant daily exposure to people from all segments of society. It is vital for the gay and lesbian community to have open gays and lesbians in such highly visible positions. And Victoria Sigler, qualified, capable and committed to doing what is right and fair, will stand out as an example of achievement and dignity for gays and lesbians everywhere. Why Your Contribution Matters to Victoria Sigler To maintain her frontrunner status, Sigler needs to raise a significant amount of money to get the message out and discourage drawing opposition. Because of the size of Dade County, a successful campaign will require intensive advertising using signs, radio, television and print media. $100,000 is considered the absolute minimum budget for a race of this kind. She has begun raising funds from her colleagues and supporters, but she needs your help to get the word out and build a winning grassroots media campaign. To Support Victoria Sigler Make your checks payable to: Campaign for Victoria Sigler And mail them to: The Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund 1012 14th Street, N.W., Suite 707 Washington, DC 20005 Individual, PAC and corporate contributions are limited to $500. Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund voice: 202-842-8679 fax: 202-289-3863 email: victoryf@aol.com