Oil millionaire Michael Huffington bought himself a seat in the House of Representatives in 1992, spending $5.6 million of his own money to defeat incumbent Robert Lagomarsino (R-CA). It was the most expensive House seat in history. Two years later, he and wife Arianna Huffington hired GOP political strategist Ed Rollins to run Michael's campaign for the U.S. Senate, challenging Democrat Dianne Feinstein. According to Rollins' 1996 autobiography:
"Do you think I'm gay?" Michael asked.
"It's totally irrelevant what I think, and I truly couldn't care one way or another. But the stories are all over New York, Houston, and Washington, and the press is starting to pick up on them. We're getting questions about it every day. If there are any bombshells out there, it's better to be prepared for them in advance. If there's any truth to any of it, the Feinstein camp will be the first to know."
"I'm not going to answer any questions like that from you or anybody else," he said, and the meeting was over. It was the most bizarre answer I'd ever gotten from a candidate. There was no sense of outrage at such a personal query. It wasn't that he protested too much; he didn't protest at all.
He did react to a similar inquiry of mine after a story appeared in which a former staff member complained Huffington was always hugging him. He told me he always hugged his employees. I kiddingly responded that he'd never hugged me. "You're too short," he replied. I've never been more relieved to be short in my life.
In 1998, after having divorced Arianna, ex-Congressman Michael Huffington finally revealed to Esquire that he was in fact bisexual. this despite having told himself 18 years prior: "I am straight, I will get married. I will have children. I will never sleep with another man again."
When Arianna ran for California governor during the 2003 recall election, Michael instead endorsed Arnold Schwarzenegger, who he described as "a charismatic leader."
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