Tim Williams is reporting for Capital Tonight in an interview on PBS’ New York Now last week, Alison Esposito, the designated Republican nominee for lieutenant governor, publicly came out as a gay woman. The announcement is historic because Esposito could become just the second openly gay nominee for statewide office by a major party and the first for the New York GOP. New York has never elected an open member of the LGBTQ community to statewide office. Karen Burstein, who had come out as a lesbian, was the Democratic nominee for attorney general in 1994, but lost to Dennis Vacco in the general election. Despite the lack of a statewide win, there have been openly gay members of the state Legislature. Charles Maron, president of the Log Cabin Republicans, a group that represents LGBTQ conservatives and allies, argues that despite the historic nature of Esposito’s candidacy, gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin picked her as a running mate because of her background and her community connections. Esposito was a deputy inspector at Brooklyn’s 70th Precinct prior to being selected as Zeldin’s running mate. Read the full story at nystateofpolitics [dot] com.