Owen Sutkowski will officially kick off his campaign for Charlotte City Council on May 28. He might just be Charlotte’s first openly gay man on a ballot for city election.

But a couple Q-Notes readers say a man named Robert Sheets ran as an openly gay man on the ballot in 1989. In the 1990s, an open lesbian ran as a write-in candidate.

FOX Charlotte reports that the Mecklenburg County Board of Elections doesn’t keep records as far back as 1989, so they weren’t able to confirm. My job today: a search through the newspaper’s archives. It is a painstaking task; something I’m not looking forward to. But duty calls.

What is truly amazing, though, is that Sutkowski is also the youngest candidate for city election ever. At only 26, he’s embarking on a run to defeat a Democratic incumbent and win a seat on council for the largest city in the Carolinas.

I haven’t yet had a chance to speak to his primary opponent, Patsy Kinsey. She’s been on the council for six years. Prior to that she served on the Mecklenburg County Commissioners. She’s a moderate Democrat, friendly to the LGBT community and has been endorsed by the Mecklenburg County Gay and Lesbian Political Action Committee (MeckPAC) in the past. I’m excited to speak to both her and Sutkowski and gain their insights as the campaign progresses.

It’s funny playing politics on the other side of the line. While the politicians and voters duke it out, I’m sitting on the sidelines, watching and waiting to record the conversations, dialogues, debates, disagreements and election outcome. It’ll be fun, even if I won’t be able to get involved in any of the city election campaigns this season.