(Tallahassee, Florida) Republican Gov. Charlie Crist says he will not actively campaign for a proposed amendment that would ban same-sex marriage and civil unions in Florida.

“I’ll support it. I’ll vote for it. Move on,” the governor told the Orlando Sentinel. “It’s not top tier for me, put it that way.”

Instead, Crist said he would concentrate on getting Sen. John McCain elected.

The Crist decision did not surprise LGBT activists working to defeat the proposed amendment. Before becoming governor, Crist as attorney general also was lukewarm on the issue.

But it also may be an indication of his need for broad-based support in the state. Recent polls indicate the amendment measure will likely fail to garner enough support to succeed.

A Quinnipiac University poll released Monday finds that 55 percent of voters support the amendment, but that is short of the 60 percent needed to amend the constitution.

Three months ago, a similar Quinnipiac poll found support was at 58 percent of voters, and a Mason-Dixon poll in August found support at 57 percent.

The newest Quinnipiac poll, of 1,427 Florida voters, was taken last week and has a 2.6 percent margin of error.

Florida already has a law restricting marriage to opposite-sex couples, but supporters of the amendment say the law could be overturned in court.

The conservative group Florida4Marriage attempted to have the proposed amendment placed on the 2006 ballot but fell short of the required number of signatures. Under Florida law, the organization was allowed to continue to add names to the petition in a bid to get it on the 2008 ballot. It was certified in February to go on the November ballot.

Opponents of the proposed amendment say in addition to barring gay marriage it would bar civil unions and would be used to deny partner benefits not only to same-sex couples but also to unmarried couples who live together.

That has spurred Florida Red and Blue, a non-partisan organization, to enter the fray on behalf of unmarried opposite-sex couples.

Last year in just 60 days, the group amassed more than $1 million to battle the proposed amendment.