Same-Sex Marriage May Be Fading as an Electoral Issue

Majorities of voters in the key swing states of Florida and Ohio now support same-sex marriage and Virginia voters are not far behind.

Washington Post polls show that by a margin of 54 percent to 33 percent voters in Florida think gay marriage should be legal and 52 percent in Ohio agree while 37 percent think it should be illegal. In Virginia, 49 percent favor same sex marriage and 40 percent oppose it.

In 2004, 62 percent of Ohio voters supported a constitutional amendment defining marriage as “only a union between one man and one woman,” the Post reported. Some 57 percent of Virginia voters in 2006 supported similar legislation and in 2008 so did 62 percent of Floridians.

While polls show increased public support for same sex marriage, ballot measures have yet to catch up. However, that may change this fall when the issue is presented to voters in Maryland, Maine, and Washington.