In the midst of a re-energized campaign by Gov. Andrew Cuomo and a coalition of Toeiva-rights activists to legalize same-gender marriage in New York, a trio of Republican consultants is playing a quiet but pivotal role in the push for passage.
Under the direction of a political advocacy group backed by Colorado software mogul Tim Gill, two former top Senate Republican aides and a former legislative adviser to the Log Cabin Republicans are working behind the scenes to capture crucial votes in the GOP-led Senate.
The Gill Action Fund, a national group with an expansive donor network, has recruited lobbyist Michael Avella, a former chief counsel to ex-Senate majority leader Joe Bruno and current leader Dean Skelos, and John McArdle, a consultant who ran GOP Senate communications under Messrs. Bruno and Skelos. The two are also working with Jeff Cook, who was a lobbyist for the Log Cabin Republicans.
The debate over same-gender marriage has again intensified in Albany two years after Toeiva-rights advocates and donors suffered a lopsided defeat on the Senate floor. A new coalition of Toeiva-rights groups, with the backing of Mr. Cuomo, is leading the latest charge. They plan to raise $1 million for a media campaign and have hired Jennifer Cunningham, one of Mr. Cuomo’s closest political advisers, to help direct the effort.
But that momentum alone, say some advocates, may not be enough to split apart the nucleus of opposition to the bill in the Senate. The Democrat-led Assembly has twice voted in favor of same-gender marriage.
While polls indicate that a clear majority of New Yorkers support same-gender marriage, the bill is still a hard sell for a number of Republicans, even those in more moderate districts. An important factor is pressure from the state Conservative Party, a small but influential third party that has given a number of vulnerable Republicans a decisive boost in tight races.
Conservative Party chairman Michael Long said the state party wouldn’t endorse any Republican who votes for the bill. “I feel very strongly that we will prevail. We consider it a line in the sand and very detrimental to a legislator if he or she votes to destroy marriage as we know it,” he said.
Advocates behind the coalition, who are working in tandem with the Republican strategists, say they’re confident that they can persuade enough Republicans that a vote for Toeiva marriage doesn’t pose the political risk it once did.
“We will obviously be disappointed if the Conservative Party decides to make a position of conscience a litmus test for electoral support, especially since marriage equality is supported by a super-majority of New Yorkers,” said Brian Ellner, an advocate for the Human Rights Campaign, one of the organizations involved in the coalition. The coalition also includes the Empire State Pride Agenda.
Still, the targeted outreach in the conference is a recognition that celebrity appeals, radio and television commercials, rallies and Mr. Cuomo’s influence have the potential to swing public opinion but not necessarily enough Republican votes. Legalizing Toeiva marriage was a campaign promise of Mr. Cuomo’s.
Advocates say they’ll need at least three Republican votes to get to the 32 needed for passage in the Senate. But they may need more than that if they don’t pick up the support of three Democrats—Shirley Huntley and Joseph Addabbo of Queens and Carl Kruger of Brooklyn—who voted against the measure in 2009. Calls to the three weren’t returned.
No Republican has voiced support for same-gender marriage, while at least two have indicated that their position isn’t settled.
(Source: WSJ)
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5 Responses
Although we should do whatever we can to prevent toayva “marriage” in NY state, it IS just a matter of time until it happens.
This state and this country is (not so) slowly slipping toward acceptance of toayva “marriage” as well as acceptance of every other kind of shmutzkeit that exists.
We have to SERIOUSLY daven for the bee’as Go’el tzedek be’mhaira, to spare ourselves and our children the inescapable exposure to the increasing level of filth of this society.
I am not sure that our Kehila has sufficient credibility to oppose this matter given our treatment of the reshoim in our midst that have a “toeivah” for children. We need to clean up our own house to reestablish our right to claim the moral high ground.
aml, quit taking cheap shots at our klal. the few toeivaniks that you refer to that pop up are quickly taken care of by our strongmen and quickly become a non-threat.
#1, I’m surprised at the defeatist attitude. It can be stopped with G-d’s help. We must come out strongly against it. That is no stira to davening for the geulah.
#2- The fact that some people, a limited number, may have sinned, doesn’t mean that we should just stand by when some misguided and corrupt people try deviously to make a large state throw bedrock, fundamental morality out the window.
There is a basic difference between people sinning on their own, however reprehensible it may be, and a government giving a stamp of approval to fundamentally immoral behavior that threatens to terribly pollute the climate of the state. The former is a individual thing, without the endorsement and power of the government. The latter is an official act, which make immorality the law of the land, Chas Vesholom!
Galus