By Evan Wolfson: Pro-Marriage Incumbents and Candidates Win Elections

Taking a Stand to End the Exclusion of Same-Sex Couples from Marriage Does Not Hurt Incumbents or Candidates in Their Elections

Freedom to Marry
July 26, 2007

For many years now, legislators across the country have taken votes on measures aimed at ending the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage, on measures that move in the direction of marriage equality, and on measures aimed at discriminating against same-sex couples and their kids, denying them the freedom to marry and other legal protections.

As the number of pro-marriage incumbents and candidates continues to expand, they are winning their elections at overwhelming rates. Their success stands in blunt contrast to the commonly held belief that supporting marriage equality ends political campaigns and careers. Instead, exhibiting the leadership to stand on the side of fairness and equality actually brings candidates and voters closer together both on the campaign trail and at the polls.

If I Vote to Support the Freedom to Marry, Will I Be Re-Elected?

• Legislators Who Voted to Support the Freedom to Marry Have a 100% Re-Election Rate. By the 2006 election, two states had seen legislative votes to support the freedom to marry for same-sex couples: several votes in the Massachusetts legislature on a proposed constitutional amendment which would repeal the freedom to marry in Massachusetts, and the California legislature's passage of a bill to end the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage. In Massachusetts, every legislator who voted to protect marriage equality and ran for re-election prevailed (195 for 195). In California the same was true, every incumbent who supported marriage equality and ran for re-election won.

If I Change My Vote to Supporting the Freedom to Marry, Will I Be Re-Elected?

• Legislators Who Evolved Their Position from Opposing to Supporting the Freedom to Marry Have a 100% Re-Election Rate. Legislators in Massachusetts who evolved their position on the freedom to marry for same-sex couples, from opposing equality with the anti-marriage amendment to supporting fairness and voting against the amendment, were all re-elected.

If I Vote Against an Anti-Marriage Constitutional Amendment, Will I Be Re-Elected?

• In 2004, 94% of Legislators Who Voted Against Discrimination Were Re-Elected. According to a report from the Human Rights Campaign and the Equality Federation, prior to the 2004 election, 640 legislators across the country who voted against an anti-marriage constitutional amendment in their state in 2004 faced re-election. 604 won their elections (94%), and only 1.7 percent (11) of the 640 legislators arguably lost their race because of their vote against discrimination. [Standing Up for Equality, January 2005]

If I Support The Freedom to Marry In An Open-Seat Election, Will I Win?

• In Open-Seat Races, Pro-Marriage Candidates Prevailed Against Anti-Marriage Candidates a Vast Majority of the Time, and this Stance Was Not a Factor in Losses. In open-seat races since 2004 where pro-marriage candidates squared off against anti-marriage candidates, pro-marriage candidates won 71-percent of the races. In Massachusetts, since the Goodridge decision, 25 out of 32 (78%) open-seat races where these face-offs took place were won by pro-marriage candidates. In California, such races were won by pro-marriage candidates 65-percent of the time (30 out of 46). For the pro-marriage candidates who lost, their pro-marriage stance did not play a factor in their campaigns.