Definition of marriage amendment may be special election casualty
Posted at 5:51 PM on December 28, 2005
by Bob Collins
Minnesota Public Radio's Tom Scheck is reporting that the results of two recent special elections could make it easier for opponents of a bill to put the definition of marriage to a constitutional vote, to stall the legislation at the Capitol.
On Tuesday, DFLer Tarryl Clark won the race to fill the unexpired term of Sen. Dave Kleis. Kleis was a "yes" vote in 2005 when supporters of the amendment tried to force it out of a Senate committee, a vote they lost by 3 votes.
Sen. David Gaither's seat (he's gone on to become Gov. Pawlenty's chief of staff) also went to the DFL and Gaither, too, was a "yes" vote.
The question now is whether these special elections were at all a referendum on the issue. It doesn't appear so since economic and transportation issues seemed to dominate the low-scale campaigns. And the issue certainly isn't going to go away despite the longer odds in the Senate. As Laura McCallum reported last month, Republicans have a lot to gain by pushing it.
The feature examines statements made by Minnesota politicians and checks them for accuracy. Based on data analysis, document reviews and interviews with non-partisan analysts, statements are rated either true, false or inconclusive. PoliGraph is a collaboration between Minnesota Public Radio News and the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota.
More
Looking for ways to ensure your students are doing quality research from credible sources? Sound Learning is a launching point to Minnesota Public Radio's content on the Web.