Third Republican Woman Comes Out Against Blunt Amendment

Former Republican Hawaii governor Linda Lingle, who is running for Senate in the state, said this morning that she opposes an amendment pushed by Senate Republicans last week that would allow any employer to drop health insurance coverage for contraception and other health services on moral grounds.

In a statement, Lingle’s campaign manager said she shares the position of her Democratic opponent, opposing the amendment sponsored by Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO). “Governor Lingle and [Democrat] Mazie Hirono share the same position on the Blunt amendment,” the statement said. “[N]either supports the broadly crafted language of the amendment.”

Nonetheless, Lingle, who is pro-choice, attended a fundraiser for her campaign which featured Blunt last night in DC. Lingle’s campaign defended the decision to travel nearly 5,000 miles to attend the fundraiser, decrying alleged Democratic “personal attack[s]” on Blunt.

Lingle joins Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME), who voted against the Blunt amendment, and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), who said yesterday that she regrets her vote for the measure, in publicly criticizing the Blunt legislation. It was narrowly defeated on a near party-line vote last week.