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HE WON, BY the way. Both times. And his refreshing candor about it and his no-spin-zone stand on local issues seems to be appealing to a variety of people in his district, if the phone calls and e-mails of support are any indication. His admirers, however, do not include his own county Democratic chairman, Charles Cart. When Cart found out about the penis contest, he approached Morrison’s campaign manager (who is also his father) and urged him to convince his son to drop out, saying, according to local reporters, “The story could be embarrassing for you, for your son and the party.”
Turns out Morrison’s
family already knew about the contest—and neither they nor he were
embarrassed in the slightest. And as for the Dems? Cart and the Democratic
Party hadn’t even bothered to put up a candidate for the seat until
Morrison won enough
write-in votes in the June primary to win a spot on the November ballot
against Republican incumbent, Sen. Robert Littell. “We knew he was
gay. That didn’t bother us,” Cart told the Philadelphia Inquirer.
“But this contest that he entered more than once, and was proud of,
that bothered us.”
So what was this contest? While at Columbia Law School in the mid-1990s, Morrison entered a “pretty penis contest” at a now defunct East Village gay bar. Polaroids of each contestant’s penis (with no other identifying details, such as a face) were distributed around the bar and a vote taken.
Morrison never hid his participation. He appeared in the ABC reality game show “The Mole”—he almost won that, too—and talked about the penis contest. He also discussed it in an interview with The Advocate, a gay news magazine.
Now, an avalanche of resulting publicity has elevated him from the obscure ranks of local politicians. But will it help him win in November? NEWSWEEK’s Mark Miller talked by phone to Morrison about his penis, the controversy—and why he’s running in the first place.
NEWSWEEK: Let’s first talk about why you decided to run for the New Jersey State Senate.
Jim
Morrison:
I had thought about running early on. You file a petition, get 100 signatures,
submit them by April 7 and you are on the ballot. But I still had a lot
of things going on in my life … So I didn’t want to pre-empt
the field and say I want to be candidate while all this stuff [an MTV pilot
and radio show] was going on and potentially have to drop out. So I didn’t
file. But no one filed. My own party didn’t put anyone up. Fast forward
to three or four days before the primary and they have nobody [representing
the Democrats], which is ridiculous. This shouldn’t be Stalinist Russia.
I researched it, and under state law if you get more than 100 write-in votes,
that is the same as getting 100 signatures on a petition—you are automatically
the nominee.
How many votes did you get?
I got 121 write-in votes, which is pretty awesome.
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Morrison on the set of 'The Mole'
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What bothers you about the incumbent, State Sen. Robert Littell?
We have an incumbent, who has been in this particular seat for about 12 years and in the state legislature for 35 years, longer than I have been alive. He doesn’t debate anyone. It is a certain arrogance of incumbency. Year after year they expect and assume the seat is theirs because they have had it for so long. There is something not right about it. And there hasn’t been a choice in this county [Sussex County in northwestern New Jersey] for at least eight years [because there hasn’t been a Democratic candidate on the ballot].
Do you have issues on which you are running?
There are a lot of important issues. For example, everyone in this district seems to complain about property taxes—and for good reason. One of the reasons is that property taxes are linked to our schools here, and a lot of people, including me, think we need to completely de-link property tax from being the thing that funds schools … There is actually a bill on the table called the Smart Bill that replaces the property-tax system with a percentage of your income tax. People would see a substantial decrease in [their] property taxes and an increase in [their] income taxes, but only based on [their] ability to pay. So it is a convergence of tax relief and progressive politics.
What other issues do you care about?
New Jersey is the most densely populated state in the nation, but my district is extremely rural. Our land-use decisions are really important. It is really, really beautiful here. [But] in the county seat of Newton they just got done building a Home Depot [that] is within 20 miles of four other Home Depots, and within half a mile they want to build a Lowes home-improvement center. Why? Once you blow away a hillside to build a Home Depot it’s gone forever. We are giving huge tax incentives and rebates and encouraging industry and big business to come in because it will increase the tax base. My question is, at what cost? It doesn’t lower taxes that much on an individual basis and you lose a beautiful hillside or a forest, a river a stream that you never get back—in a state that is already beautiful-land-challenged. And you know it will drive out of business the six local lumber companies.
What has been the reaction since your “outing” as a “pretty penis contest” winner?
The funny thing is that I guess it was meant to embarrass me and get me out of the race, even if it was by my own party chairman. But it has only served to embolden people to like me. I’ve heard them use that word. People have said, “If he is honest about that then you know he won’t be dishonest about all the other things politicians are dishonest about.” If I [am doing an interview] and I have five minutes, I end up talking about the pretty penis contest for half a minute then I get four and a half minutes to talk about my issues.
Do you think it would not be an issue if you had lost the contest?
No, not at all. [Laughs.] It is like I am being punished because I won the contest. If I had lost the contest there is no way it would have come up. I would have been too embarrassed to say I was in it—and I lost.
What’s your plan for turning all this attention into actual votes?
It is really early. Now we have people calling up and want to donate and volunteer. One of my other issues is campaign-finance reform … I think the system is on the verge of being broken. So I am not taking more than $100 per person and no corporate money at all. You can donate up to $100, but that is it. And any events I am doing will all be free with a suggested donation of a dime to $100. It’s such a turnoff when it’s all about [a] $2,000-a-plate dinner.
Has your Republican opponent commented on your notoriety?
He hasn’t said anything yet, at all.
Are you single or involved with anyone?
I have a boyfriend. I actually met him in New York City, and he has a loft where we both run our T-shirt business out of.
What’s it called?
Www.Jesushatesyour.com. We make T-shirts with slogans like JESUS HATES YOUR SUV or YOUR DEATH PENALTY. The irony is that it’s stupid, of course, and you need to keep Jesus out of politics.
Do you think that might turn off some of the more conservative voters in your area?
So what. I’m a Democrat. It’s First Amendment protected speech. People are so ready to be offended … I am trying really hard to be a totally new type of politician. I want to be the type that you never have to worry that when you ask a question they roll through their program in their head and try to figure out what to say. I don’t want to be someone who is pandering and saying only the right thing to the right people.
OK, we have to ask. Why do you think you won the “pretty penis” contest?
[Laughs.] I don’t even know. Maybe it just had the right proportions. Maybe it was the least offensive. It was probably something along those lines—that I don’t have a deformed penis.
© 2003 Newsweek, Inc.
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