Obamas Support Of Gay Marriage Has Little Impact In New Jersey

While the media and public made a huge deal that President Obama recently announced his support for same-sex marriage, a study in New Jersey suggests that the state’s voters won’t change the way they vote based on the president’s opinion.

New Jersey’s own leader Governor Christie certainly has his own strong opinions on the same-sex union matter. Civil unions are legal in New Jersey. In the recent past, Christie vetoed a bill that would further expand same-sex couple’s rights by legalizing gay marriage in the state. Now, he suggests that the matter makes it onto a ballot for the state to vote on.

According to a poll, the majority of New Jersey voters, 67 percent, support Christie’s move of putting the same-sex marriage matter to a vote. If the matter comes down to a vote, whether same-sex marriage legislation will be passed in New Jersey may very well depend on the age of those who show up to vote. The poll shows that 77 percent of younger voters support gay marriage compared to 41 percent of seniors.

It sounds like voters have clear ideas of how they want their state of New Jersey to address the important issue of same-sex marriage. But the poll suggests that a presidential candidate’s opinion about the matter one way or the other won’t significantly influence New Jersey residents’ presidential votes come November. Perhaps that means the voters here want gay marriage legislation to remain a state matter and not a federal one.

What do you think about the results of this poll? Does it sound about right when you think of your community’s attitude toward the sensitive issue?

Source: The Record, “Poll: Majority of NJ voters support gay marriage,” Zach Patberg, May 17, 2012