One Iowa in the News: Gay marriage could hinge on Iowa special election
from The Muscatine Journal.
Iowa's status as the only Midwestern state where gay couples can marry could be threatened by a special state Senate election being held after the state's conservative Republican governor appointed a Democratic legislator to a well-paid state position.
By appointing Sen. Swati Dandekar to the Iowa Utilities Board, Gov. Terry Branstad ensured Republicans would have a shot at sharing control of the state Senate, a chamber where Democrats have used their narrow 26- to 24-seat majority to block a number of GOP efforts, most notably a proposed constitutional amendment to overturn Iowa's gay marriage law.
Branstad and the Republican-controlled House support beginning the multi-year process of referring a constitutional amendment to voters, and while a 25-to-25 split wouldn't ensure they would succeed in the next legislative session, their odds would be much better.
...National gay and lesbians groups so far haven't announced plans to campaign for the Democrat, but Troy Price, executive director of the gay-rights organization One Iowa, said his colleagues were "doing everything we can to make sure people understand the issues."
Although [Republican candidate Cindy] Golding said she would support referring a gay marriage ban to voters and [Democrat candidate Liz] Mathis opposes such a move, neither candidate has made this issue a key part of her campaign.
...If Mathis is elected, Democrats will retain their majority and Senate Majority Leader Michael Gronstal likely will be able to keep his vow of not taking up the gay marriage issue, a stand he has repeatedly equated to "putting discrimination into the state's constitution."
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