Lost in the news last night (and understandably so) were six Democratic wins in state assembly races. The party held on to districts 23, 27, 54, 73, 116, and 144. Doesn’t sound like a big deal, but opponents of gay marriage had trained their guns on these elections in order to prove that voting for it, or supporting it, would wreck careers.
No such luck. Districts 23, 27, 54, and 73 are all in New York City; the first two are in Queens. Districts 116 and 144, in upstate New York, proved resilient to gay marriage issue campaigns.
“We spent about $3,000 on automated calls in both the 116 and 144,” says NOM’s president, Brian Brown. “Our focus was on defeating David Weprin.”
Gay marriage was absolutely an issue in that race. You can ask the rabbis who opposed Weprin solely because of his vote, and his speech endorsing the new law by appealing to his Orthodox faith. The evidence that it’s a stone-cold Dem-killer is… inconclusive.
