Gay combat veteran to challenge Garamendi for Congressional seat

April 28, 7:44 AMCalifornia Statehouse ExaminerScott Sabatini

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Anthony Woods, shown during a commencement speech at
Harvard University, is running for the House of Representatives./AP

It's hard to say whether John Garamendi saw this one coming, or if he did, if he took it seriously.

Perhaps there is nothing to worry about for the career politician with strong name recognition, who announced last week he would forgo his desire to run for governor and instead run for the open seat on the House of Representatives, vacated by Rep. Ellen Tauscher, who is joining the Obama administration.

But if Garamendi didn't take Anthony Woods seriously, he should have. Anthony Woods, the latest candidate to announce his intention to run for Tauchser's seat, is one serious guy.

Woods campaign Web site makes clear in a couple of pictures what he is all about, a decorated graduate of West Point who won the Bronze Star during two tours of duty in Iraq, who is an active community servant, involved in organizations like Habitat for Humanity.

Woods strong resume shows how much he has packed into his life so far. Still shy of his 30th birthday, Woods has put together a Hallmark movie story.

Despite growing up with a single mother, Woods attended West Point. He earned a master's degree from Harvard. Despite his combat acclaim in two tours of duty, he was dismissed from the military when he broke the "don't ask, don't tell," policy and announced he was gay.

I just got tired of living a lie," he told Capitol Alert last weekend. "I spent four years at West Point living and breathing the Honor Code. So I made the decision to tell my commander."

The Army stuck him with the $35,000 bill for his education, as if he didn't earn it in Iraq.

"It's a small price to pay for being honest," he said.

But it was more than just the money. Woods had to endure a military court-martial process where the prosecutors interviewed family and friends to prove he was gay. What hit even harder was Woods had been hired to teach a West Point, what he called "a huge, huge dream."

Now the dream is Congress, if Woods can overcome Garamendi's enormous lead in name recognition and distinguish himself from a potentially crowded field of four or five candidates. But, suddenly this special election for the Bay Areas open House of Representative speech become far more interesting.

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