Source: Capitol Media Services via East Valley Tribune, CNN, Arizona Star, Zonie Report
A new strategy -- and more money -- gave supporters of a ban on marriage equality the victory in Arizona that eluded them in 2006.
Using a bankroll that dwarfed funds raised to oppose the amendment, religious conservatives managed to persuade voters to approve Proposition 102, which will write into the state constitution that "only a union of one man and one woman shall be recognized as a marriage in this state."
Backers of the measure built a warchest in excess of $7.6 million, relying heavily on contributions of $10,000 or more from individual families.
The two committees opposing the measure collected less than 10 percent of that.
Nearly complete results Wednesday morning show the measure has the backing of more than 56 percent of voters. Strong support in Maricopa County which includes the city of Phoenix -- and most of the rest of the state -- overcame the narrow vote against Proposition 102 in Pima County, which includes the city of Tucson.
That lead held through the evening even with Pima County voting narrowly against it, Capitol Media Services reports. With 98% of its votes counted Wednesday morning, the measure narrowly lost in Pima County with 51% voting against the amendment, but passed in all other counties.
In Maricopa County, which has over half of the state's population, 55% of voters favored the amendment, according to CNN.
State Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Phoenix, said all that spending by proponents could not help but affect the outcome.
"Obviously, they had 15 times as much money as we did," she told Capitol Media Services. "Advertising makes a difference."
One thing that put foes at a fiscal disadvantage is the ballot fight in California where a similar constitutional amendment went to voters, Capitol Media Services reports.
The big difference is that marriage for gay and lesbian couples is legal there -- or, at least, has been since earlier this year when that state’s supreme court overturned the statutory ban. National gay rights groups funnelled much of their money into the campaign against Proposition 8 in hopes of preserving a right that exists.
Far less attention was given to the Arizona measure.
Two years ago in Arizona, anti-gay activists placed on the ballot a measure that sought not only to outlaw same-sex marriage but also to bar any law that recognized civil unions. That proposal also would have banned governments from providing benefits like health insurance to the domestic partners of their employees.
It was narrowly defeated -- the only time an anti-gay marriage measure has been defeated at the polls.
This year the proponents of Proposition 102 decided to narrow their focus, sticking simply to the issue of who can marry.
"The goal was to make the proposal really clear," Kelly Molique, a spokeswoman for the pro-102 campaign, told Capitol Media Services.
The passage of Prop. 102 changes little immediately because state law already allows only marriages between one man and one woman.
Last week, Jake Harvey, an international affairs student and member of Young Democrats at NAU, warned that passage of the amendment would have far broader consequences.
He told Arizona news site ZonieReport that the failure of the initiative is imperative to make the state more accepting of the gay and lesbian community.
“[Vote] yes or no, gay marriage will still be illegal in Arizona on November 5,” Harvey says. “There is no reason to put blatant discrimination against a group of people into our constitution.”
Harvey created a Facebook group against Prop. 102 that includes more than 8,000 members. He feels young people can be a driving force for acceptance of non-traditional marriages.
"Fifty years ago, my parents could not have wed because interracial marriage was not legal," he says. "Now that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Arizonans are becoming more visible and accepted, [traditional] marriage and Proposition 102 are becoming a last stand for people who are ignorant of homosexuality."
But it wasn't a message that most Arizona voters were willing to embrace.
Source: Gay marriage ban supported by most voters | East Valley Tribune (Capitol Media Services)
Grass roots trump cash on Prop. 200 | Arizona Daily Star
Ballott measures | CNN Election Center
Gay marriage ban revives old tensions | Zonie Report