Via the AP:  Alabama Democrats reinstate gay candidate for Legislature

The Alabama Democratic Party Executive Committee voted 95-87 to reject the ruling of a subcommittee that had voted to disqualify Todd, who is white, and her black opponent, Gaynell Hendricks, in the race for the House seat from Birmingham’s District 54.

Todd defeated Hendricks by 59 votes in the July 18 party runoff election.

This is the just outcome.

Further, the state Democratic leadership had to know what a PR nightmare they had on their hands (not to mention a possible drawn-out legal set of problems had they let the sub-committee’s ruling stand).

Of course, the racial and power-broker politics of the event will likely resonate into the future:

The committee vote pitted vice chairman Joe Reed, a powerful black political leader, against other party officials. Reed had written a letter to black leaders in Jefferson County before the July 18 runoff asking them to support Hendricks so that a black would be elected from the majority black district.