The GOP Presidential candidates will soon have to take a stance on New Hampshire’s efforts to repeal the state’s 2009 same-sex marriage law, as Republican lawmakers plan to schedule debate on the measure ahead of the state’s primary. From the Associated Press:
New Hampshire is among those six states and also home to the first Republican primary next winter. According to conservative activists in the state, none of the major GOP presidential candidates has yet taken a public position on the ongoing effort by some Republican legislators to repeal the 2009 state law legalizing same-sex marriage.
Andy Smith, director of the University of New Hampshire Survey Center, predicted that most of the GOP contenders would continue trying to dodge the issue because of lukewarm public support for repeal.
However, David Bates, one of the lawmakers pushing for the repeal, says he and his colleagues intend to put some heat on the GOP contenders by scheduling debate on the repeal bill in the weeks leading up to the primary.
“We will be seeing to it that each candidate addresses it,” Bates said. “They will not be able to duck it.”
Back in February, House Republicans agreed to hold back three separate repeal bills until 2012 so lawmakers can focus on fiscal issues. Democratic Gov. John Lynch is prepared to veto a repeal bill, but “Republicans hold super majorities in both the House and Senate which would be enough to override a veto.”
The issue is tricky for Republicans, however. A University of New Hampshire poll released earlier this year found that 62 percent of New Hampshire voters are opposed to repealing the marriage law, while just 29 percent of voters supported the effort. The polls showed that almost half of those voters were ambivalent: 13 percent favor of respondents favor repeal, but wouldn’t be upset if marriage is not repealed. Just five percent of respondents who favor repeal who would be “very upset” if the marriage law is not repealed.
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