On the heels of the significant Supreme Court ruling a few weeks ago week that defiled the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), Democratic state Senate President Steven Sweeney accused Gov. Chris Christie of throwing his weight around and intimidating state legislators when it comes to voting for same-sex marriage in New Jersey. Christie vetoed a same-sex marriage bill last year.
Addressing an audience at a New Jersey radio station earlier this month, Sweeney said a number of state Republicans are afraid of the consequences if they went against the tough-talking, no-nonsense Christie and voted to support gay marriages in the Garden State.
Christie has long maintained support for civil unions, but he contends that the issue of whether to allow gay marriages should be put on a ballot for the public to decide. Sweeney believes that “several Republicans would support the measure if they voted their conscious” and if they were not influenced by other high-ranking Republicans.
Additionally, Sweeney dismissed Christie’s notion that the public should decide whether to allow gay marriages. “There is not a chance in hell that I will ever put a bill up that will allow a civil rights issue to be put on a ballot,” he said.
Christie issued a statement shortly after Sweeney’s tirade stating that, among other things, called the notion of his purported influence over other state Republicans “insulting.” He added, “They often come to me for my view and my opinion, and I give it them, but in the end, I’m not the one pushing the buttons, they are!”
Last year, two Republicans voted to support same-sex marriages and the state Assembly passed the bill before it was struck down by Christie. At least three more Republican votes are needed to pass the measure.
Finally, a recent Rutgers-Eagleton poll showed that more than half of all New Jerseyans favor legalizing same-sex marriage. However nearly the same number (53 percent) agree that the issue should be placed on the ballot, despite being a civil rights issue.
