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Loading ...Maine gay marriage campaigns report donations
10.14.2009 9:13am EDT
(Augusta, Maine) Supporters of Maine’s gay marriage law said Tuesday they’ve collected $2.7 million for their campaign against a ballot proposal to repeal it, more than double the amount the measure’s supporters said they raised.
The group, called NO on 1/Protect Maine Equality, also reported that it has spent $2.2 million on its campaign to preserve the law.Meanwhile, Stand for Marriage Maine, which petitioned to get the repeal measure on the ballot, reported it had collected $1.1 million and spent more than $941,000 on its campaign. The group also said it has debts of more than $419,000. No on 1 reported no debts.
The figures were disclosed in campaign finance reports that were due to the state Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices Tuesday night.
Gov. John Baldacci signed the same-sex marriage bill in May. But the law has not gone into effect, pending the outcome of the Nov. 3 election. With the popular challenge, Maine has become a testing ground for the legal validation of gay marriage, which has been allowed in six states.
The amounts raised are above average for state ballot measures and are likely to grow as the campaign continues, said Christian Potholm, a government professor at Bowdoin College in Maine.
“This is a huge national issue coming after defeat of gay marriage in California, and Maine is where the defenders of gay marriage are making their stand,” Potholm said.
Jesse Connolly, campaign manager for NO on 1, said the figures show the amount of support is “amazing, and folks are excited about the opportunity to protect marriage equality for our citizens.”
A message left with a Stand for Marriage Maine spokesman was not immediately returned.
Stand for Marriage Maine has drawn criticism from a group active in last year’s successful gay marriage referendum in California. Californians Against Hate claims some organizations contributing to the repeal campaign are circumventing state law by not reporting the names of the donors. The ethics commission is investigating the complaint.
NO on 1 said less than half the money it raised came from Maine donors. The group also said 29 donors gave more than $10,000 each, and 18 of them are Maine residents who contributed a total of $515,000.
Most of the NO on 1 contributions ranged from $25 to $500. The group reported nearly $42,000 in in-kind contributions from Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders.
Stand for Marriage’s report listed numerous contributions in the $100 to $500 range. Among its biggest contributors were the National Organization for Marriage of Princeton, N.J., which accounted for about $425,000, and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland, which gave more than $270,000.
Money money money
It makes me incredibly angry to see the portland diocese give so much money. How can they say they stand for what they do and spread this kind of hate that we know ends up hurting kids, in addition of course to limiting our rights.
How do they sleep at night? They know they are wrong..it is so cinical.
I blog a little on my (sometimes) local paper in Bangor. there are a few knuckleheads that keep posting scripture and praying for us, but the vast, vast majority are in support and pledging to vote.
I really hope the hates stay home and our supportes come out. That is what will make a difference. The armchair bigots can yell at the ads in agreement but will they vote? They rarely vote for regular elections.
I’m hopeful the phone banks will make it clear people have to get out and vote. I signed up but am waiting for a shift…I will contact them again.
It isn’t the donations the gay-haters REPORT you have to worry about! Maine residents, call your State ethics Commission, and ask them to contact the California Fair Political Practices Commission. They aren’t ready to issue their report yet, but they WILL help Maine prevent the same kind of MASSIVE, ILLEGAL cheating the gay-haters did here!
Tom,
I’d recommend if you have some free time (or if you haven’t already) sign up for the call shifts. The biggest initiative now outside of advertising is calling the voters themselves and getting them (and their whole household) to vote early.
Know the “National Organization for Marriage” is a front for THE MORMONS!
Yesterday their leadership started rallying the troops for another round of attacks while claiming they are the victims.
Beware of THE MORMONS! The will lie, hide the truth and cheat at any cost to deny others the opportunity to be equal with them.
The advertising isn’t going to make much difference. It will all boil down to who actually votes next month. Turnout is always low for off-year ballots so they probably should be focusing on getting supporters to the polls.
Let’s keep our fingers crossed that this is a reflection of a positive outcome for equal Marriage in Maine. Having seen the disaster that took place in California can only mean that more people are becoming sensitive to Gay issues and our needs and recognizing that it is totally unfair to trump majority rights over minority rights in a democratic society.
This is good news, but we must not be complacent. Even though we have outraised the opposition, we have not raised enough money for the final three weeks. The fact is that even though we have outspent the opposition, the polls indicate a dead heat. It could go either way, so we must make sure that we have a great get out the vote effort. Remember, we raised more money in the Prop 8 campaign than did our opponents, and yet we lost. In addition, do not be surprised in Mormon money comes flooding into Maine in the last three weeks. Please donate to No on 1/Protect Maine Equality.
This is good news. But its not over yet, to help donate .Please visit :
http://www.protectmaineequality.org