Natural Marriage Restored in Maine: The People Have Spoken

Despite being outspent by nearly two to one, the defenders of natural marriage are victorious in Maine. The battle in Maine was led by the Archdiocese of Portland and the National Organization for Marriage.

Yesterday’s election is the latest in an unbroken series of defeats at the ballot box for those who seek to redefine marriage. Whenever the people of America are allowed to have their say, they stand up in defense of the institution of marriage.

As of this writing, the margin of victory is 6 points, 53-47%. The margin may go even higher when absentee ballots, which tend to lean conservative, are counted. Polls had shown the race to be much closer than the final result. This is unsurprising. In an August 18, 2009 interview with California Catholic Daily, Marc Mutty, public affairs director for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland who served as chairman of the Executive Committee of Stand for Marriage Maine, said “It seems to be pretty universally observed that when this issue comes to the ballot there is a depth of support that does not appear in polling. This is because people are afraid to be labeled a “bigot” for their support of natural marriage. And that is a real fear. There have been well-documented cases of retaliation against individuals and businesses. This happened in California, and we know of cases where it has already happened in Maine.”

Same-sex “marriage” in Maine was supported by the governor, the legislature (which foisted same-sex “marriage” on the people), the attorney general, and the two largest newspapers in the state, the Bangor Daily News and the Portland Press Herald. The only people opposed happened to be a majority of the citizens. On Tuesday, the voters of Maine asserted their good sense and their right to self government.

The victory should be heartening for supporters of marriage in neighboring states (Massachsetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut)—all of which have had same-sex “marriage” instituted by either legislative or judicial action—never with the consent of the governed. In 2007, the legislature of Massachusetts even refused to allow a constitutional amendment proposing to overturn Massachusetts' court-imposed redefinition of marriage to be put on the ballot. This was in spite of the fact that a record 170,000 citizens had signed the petition. But the legislature refused to even allow Massachusetts citizens to vote on the matter. That’s because they knew the citizens, whom they are supposed to represent, don’t agree with them.

Maine was not the only victory for forces of marriage and life on Tuesday. In Virginia, pro-life and pro-marriage candidate Bob McDonnell defeated Creigh Deeds by 18 points. In New Jersey, a democratic stronghold, pro-life Chris Christie defeated incumbent Jon Corzine by 5%. Governor-elect Christie has also vowed to veto any same-sex “marriage” legislation that reaches his desk .