(San Francisco, California) Funds raised to support a California ban on same-sex marriage are outpacing funds to defeat the ban and keep gay marriage by nearly a third, so San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom will head to New York on Thursday to seek cash.

Paterson has been a longtime supporter of marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples.  The New York Assembly last year passed a marriage equality bill, but it has stalled in the GOP-dominated Senate.

In 2004, Newsom began allowing marriage licenses to be issued to same-sex couples in San Francisco. The state took the mayor to court arguing he had overstepped his authority and the California Supreme Court agreed. As a result, more than 8,000 marriages were declared void. 

The ruling, however, did not directly address the issue of the constitutionality of the state ban on same-sex marriage, so LGBT civil rights activists began a separate court action challenging the prohibition.

In May, the court court ruled that denying same-sex couples the right to wed violated the California constitution.

Conservative groups began collecting enough signatures for a ballot measure, known as Proposition 8, to amend the constitution to limit marriage to opposite-sex couples.  It will appear on the November ballot.

Since then, according to state records, supporters of Prop 8 have raised $17.8 million. Opponents of the measure have brought in $12.4 million. Much of the money on both sides has come from out-of-state.

This week, the “NO on 8″ committee released its first television ad featuring an elderly man and wife who urge voters to not eliminate their gay daughter’s right to marry.

Sam and Julia Thoron of San Francisco say in the commercial that they have been married for 46 years, and raised three children.

“My wife and I never treated them differently,” said Sam Thoron in the spot. “We never loved them any differently, and the law shouldn’t treat them differently either.”

The commercial is being aired on television stations throughout the state.

The battle is also being fought on lawns statewide.  Signs are popping up in front of homes both in favor and against the measure throughout California.

On Monday, director Steven Spielberg and his wife, actress Kate Capshaw gave $100,000 to the “NO on 8″ campaign, matching a $100,000 donation last week from actor Brad Pitt.

“By writing discrimination into our state constitution, Proposition 8 seeks to eliminate the right of each and every citizen in our state to marry regardless of sexual orientation,” Spielberg said in a statement. “Such discrimination has NO place in California’s constitution, or any other.”

Recent polls suggest that California voters are likely to reject the proposed amendment. A Field Poll last week found that only about 38 percent of likely voters would support the measure.