Unlikely Presidential Candidate Speaks in Towson

Like many politicians, Fred Karger is fashionably late.

"Sorry," he said, smiling as he strolled into a classroom.

As Tuesday's primary election approaches, Republican presidential candidates are making their mark on Maryland. But you've probably not heard of Karger.

The Towson event—attended by about two dozen, nearly all political science students—was one of several the California political consultant has planned during a week-long swing through Maryland, including meetings with state legislators and members of the gay-rights group Equality Maryland.

Karger isn't your average Republican. The first openly gay major-party presidential candidate, Karger is pro-gay marriage, pro-choice and for the legalization of marijuana.

"The Republican party that I grew up with was a very different Republican party than we're seeing now," Karger said. "It was not destructive. It was not derisive."

He's worked on nine presidential campaigns, including Bob Dole, George H.W. Bush, Ronald Reagan (the second time around) and various California state campaigns, but this is the first time it's been his own name on the ballot.

He spoke at Towson as a guest of adjunct political science professor Tony Campbell, a former Baltimore County GOP chairman who teaches a course on presidential campaigns.

Karger, 62, is among the longest of longshot candidates. His best election showing came in Puerto Rico earlier this month, where he came in fifth place, just ahead of Texas Rep. Ron Paul. Puerto Rico and Maryland are among just a handful of ballots the candidate qualified for—his next ballot is in his home state of California in June.

"I've been shunned, turned down," he said, discussing being left out of early Republican debates. "I've had a lot of doors slammed in my face."

That, he said, may have been because of his sexuality. Karger came out during the campaign against Proposition 8 in California, the 2008 referendum now being challenged in courts that ended same-sex marriage in that state.

Besides his stances on issues like marriage and drugs, Karger supports looking at lowering the voting age, with an emphasis on civics education for teens.

"I have a lot more faith than a 17-year-old than an 87-year-old, maybe," he said.

After discussing his biography and platform, he took questions from students.

Though he conceded "a gay Republican makes a really good headline," Karger said he's really running "to bring some sense, moderation, whatever to the Republican party."