Pro-Marriage Legislators Win Elections

Evan Wolfson's organization "freedom to marry" posted this report on his web site. This should make it clear to legislators that they have nothing to fear about losing their legislative seat. Read the entire report click link below.

pro-marriage_legislators_win_elections.pdf (application/pdf Object)

THE GAY AND NON-GAY PARTNERSHIP WORKING
TO WIN MARRIAGE EQUALITY NATIONWIDE
“The night I took the vote in June, I was told I would never be elected again. I’m running unopposed.”
— Rep. Teresa R. Sayward, R-North Country, NY, describing her experience with voting for a
marriage equality bill in 2007 and getting re-elected in upstate New York in 2008
Pro-Marriage Legislators Win Elections
An analysis of election results is unequivocal: exhibiting leadership by voting to support the
freedom to marry helps rather than hurts politicians. For many years legislators across the country
have voted on laws aimed at ending the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage. Others have
been asked to vote on state constitutional amendments aimed at discriminating against same-sex
couples and their children by denying them the freedom to marry.
A review of all of these votes from 2005 to the present shows that legislators who vote to end
marriage discrimination for same-sex couples are consistently re-elected. The success of more than
1,100 state legislators who voted to support the freedom to marry stands in bold contrast to the
commonly held belief that supporting marriage equality ends political campaigns and careers. In
fact, these legislators are re-elected no matter what party they represent or if they changed their
vote from opposing to supporting marriage equality. Even better, legislators who run for higher
office win after voting in favor of marriage for same-sex couples.
If I Vote to Support the Freedom to Marry, Will I Be Re-Elected?
• Legislators Who Voted to End Marriage Discrimination for Same-Sex Couples Have a 100%
Re-Election Rate in Three Consecutive Elections. By November 2008, four states had seen
legislative votes which explicitly sought to end marriage discrimination for gay couples:
− Two votes by the California legislature to pass a bill ending the exclusion of same-sex
couples from marriage,
− The New York State Assembly vote on a bill in favor of marriage equality,
− A Connecticut legislative committee which voted to end the exclusion of same-sex couples
from marriage, and
− Several votes in the Massachusetts legislature on a proposed constitutional amendment to
repeal the already established freedom to marry in that state.
In all 499 instances, legislators who voted to support marriage equality and ran for office in the
following general election for their respective