'Significant' numbers of Republicans voted for gay marriage on Nov. 6
Sat. December 8, 2012 9:18 AM by Carlos Santoscoy
According to analysis from the Cato Institute, a "significant" number of Republicans voted for gay marriage on November 6.
The report details voting patterns in three of the four states where marriage equality was on the ballot. (Washington state was not included because data from the state had yet to be finalized.)
In Maryland, where voters upheld a marriage law approved by lawmakers, Question 6 fared better than President Barack Obama in 11 of the 18 counties that Mitt Romney carried.
In Minnesota, where voters rejected an effort to limit marriage to heterosexual couples, 47 towns around the Twin Cities area opposed the measure, known as Amendment One, while voting for Romney.
One example given is Scott County, where Romney received 56.6 percent of the vote and Amendment One was narrowly defeated.
Republicans also helped make Maine the first state to legalize marriage equality at the ballot box.
The Bangor suburb of Hampden voted for Question 1 and Romney.
Additional evidence can be found in exit polls conducted by Fox News in each of the three states. Between 21 – 25 percent of Republicans told the cable network that they were breaking from the party on the issue of marriage equality.
Walter Olson, senior fellow at the Cato Institute, conducted the analysis.
"A lot of Republicans crossed over against the official position of the party to vote for Question 6 in Maryland, to vote against Amendment One in Minnesota, same thing in Maine," Olson said on NPR's Talk of the Nation. "And that made the difference."
The report details voting patterns in three of the four states where marriage equality was on the ballot. (Washington state was not included because data from the state had yet to be finalized.)
In Maryland, where voters upheld a marriage law approved by lawmakers, Question 6 fared better than President Barack Obama in 11 of the 18 counties that Mitt Romney carried.
In Minnesota, where voters rejected an effort to limit marriage to heterosexual couples, 47 towns around the Twin Cities area opposed the measure, known as Amendment One, while voting for Romney.
One example given is Scott County, where Romney received 56.6 percent of the vote and Amendment One was narrowly defeated.
Republicans also helped make Maine the first state to legalize marriage equality at the ballot box.
The Bangor suburb of Hampden voted for Question 1 and Romney.
Additional evidence can be found in exit polls conducted by Fox News in each of the three states. Between 21 – 25 percent of Republicans told the cable network that they were breaking from the party on the issue of marriage equality.
Walter Olson, senior fellow at the Cato Institute, conducted the analysis.
"A lot of Republicans crossed over against the official position of the party to vote for Question 6 in Maryland, to vote against Amendment One in Minnesota, same thing in Maine," Olson said on NPR's Talk of the Nation. "And that made the difference."
Article provided in partnership with On Top Magazine