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by GoPride.com News Staff

Newark, N.J. — Democratic lawmakers in New Jersey said they have nearly veto-proof support for a gay marriage bill.

State Sen. Raymond Lesniak told the Wall Street Journal he has 23 Democrats and 4 Republicans who have promised to support the bill, exactly the number -- 27 -- needed to override a veto. However, it was unclear if those "supporters" felt strongly enough about it to be part of a veto override.

In the New Jersey State Assembly, Speaker Shelia Oliver said that more than 40 of that house's 80 members support gay marriage, and she is working to shore up enough votes for an override.

It's not clear an override will be necessary. Gov. Chris Christie said on Thursday that he won't speculate whether or not he would sign a bill, if it ever got to his desk.

"I've been very clear on my view on this since I ran for office that I'm not a supporter of same-sex marriage," he told WCBS 880. "But on the other hand, the fact is that this is a huge societal change that they're talking about here and I think that we need to do this in a very deliberate and thoughtful way and get the most input from the public we can before we overturn hundreds of years of societal legal and religious tradition."

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