Gay Marriage Debate Key to SF Mayor's Future

As San Francisco’s mayor looks to become California’s next governor, his gay-marriage activism may threaten his success—especially if voters are again asked to decide the issue for themselves, the AP reports. Though all the Democratic candidates support gay marriage, Gavin Newsom has a particularly strong association with the issue: He directed city clerks to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples in 2004.

Should Newsom gain the nomination, the debate “would dominate the mainstream, the thinking of most voters, especially those outside the party who may not hold as sympathetic a perception of gay marriage,” said a pollster. And that could prove a “two-edged sword” in a state that voted 52% to 48% against same-sex marriage in November.
(More gay marriage stories.)