RIVERDALE, Ga. - Michelle Bruce, a transgender City Council member, lost a re-election bid in a runoff Tuesday following the dismissal of a lawsuit claiming she tried to fool voters by running as a woman.
A judge dropped the lawsuit claiming election fraud Monday, the day before voting. Bruce claims the suit, filed by opponent Georgia Fuller, was intended to prevent her from being elected to a second City Council term.
"It was a personal attack," she said. "It was aimed at getting me out."
Wayne Hall won Tuesday's runoff with 308 votes; Bruce received 223 votes.
Bruce, 46, landed one of Riverdale's four City Council seats in 2003 after running unopposed.
In the Nov. 6 general election, Bruce received 312 votes, which was not enough for an outright win over Hall, who received 202 votes. Fuller finished third with 171 votes.
The lawsuit filed by Fuller identified Bruce as "Michael Bruce" and claimed she misled voters by identifying herself as a woman. The complaint asked a judge to invalidate the results of the Nov. 6 vote and order another general election.
Fuller's attorney, Mike King, said Bruce's female name gave her an "unfair advantage" because the town's voters tend to vote for women, particularly incumbents.
Bruce, believed to be the state's first transgender politician, has declined to say whether she had sex-reassignment surgery.
