Six years ago Arizona voters narrowly rejected a measure to outlaw not only gay marriage but also civil unions. But in 2008 a scaled-back proposal to solely constitutionally define marriage as between one man and one woman passed on a 56-44 margin. And similar measures have been approved across the nation. That is until this year when voters in Maine, Maryland and Washington approved allowing gays to wed. And Minnesotans rejected a ban on same-sex weddings. With that in mind, Scottsdale Republican Tanner Pritts said he formed Arizona Advocates for Marriage Equality.
"Our plans is to get a ballot measure on the 2014 ballot to redefine marriage, basically," Pritts said. "We feel that obviously the demographics of the nation are changing. And we feel that Arizona is, too. And we think we have a shot."
The four states that supported gay marriage all also went for Obama; Arizona did not. And the National Organization for Marriage, on the heels of the election two weeks ago, put out its own nationwide survey of 800 people who actually went to the polls. It found that 51 percent strongly agree that marriage should be limited to one man and one woman, with another 10 percent saying they somewhat agree. Pritts will need money and organization: It will take more than a quarter million signatures just to put the issue on the ballot.