NEW YORK CITY: Leading GOP Mayoral Candidate Joe Lhota Backs Marriage

Former MTA head Joe Lhota, who is thus far the leading GOP candidate for New York City mayor, says he backs marriage equality. Lhota officially launched his campaign yesterday at a press conference.

Lhota is a Republican in a heavily Democratic city. He’s fiscally conservative, but he is pro-choice and favors marriage equality. He said he would perform a same-sex marriage if asked. Pundits say his late entry into the race has already changed the multi-candidate Republican primary. “I think at this point he is the Republican primary,” Baruch College’s Micheline Blum said. And his candidacy has also shaken up the Democrats at a time when the party thought it would finally have a chance of taking City Hall after 20 years of GOP victories.

Lhota yesterday added that he strongly supports the NYPD's controversial  "stop-and-frisk" policy, which was ruled unconstitutional (in some cases) earlier this month.