Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley said on Monday that the campaign to defend his state’s same-sex marriage law needs to raise another $2 million ahead of the Nov. 6 referendum.
“We’re continuing to raise every day in every way, but I really want to make it clear here that we have the ability to pass this in Maryland,” he told LGBT reporters and bloggers from across the country during a Marylanders for Marriage Equality conference call.
“It is keeping with the character of our state. It will protect rights equally under the law while protecting religious liberty. That’s why our state was founded to begin with, but we do need to raise money here. We do need to raise another couple of million dollars, and if we’re able to do that I believe that we will pass this. And raising those dollars is critically important for our ability to be able to defend this at the ballot.”
Josh Levin, campaign director of Marylanders for Marriage Equality, told the Washington Blade in June that he was confident he could run what he described as a “winning campaign” with between $5 and $7 million. He once again declined to provide an exact figure as to how much money his group has raised.
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“I would say we are far along to our goal,” said O’Malley. “We are beyond the 50-yard line and we continue to move forward, not back.”
>The governor spoke to bloggers and reporters a day before gay former “American Idol” contestant Adam Lambert was scheduled to headline a Marylanders for Marriage Equality fundraiser at the 9:30 Club in Northwest Washington.
O’Malley also spoke at a star-studded New York City fundraiser for Marylanders for Marriage Equality on Sept. 13.
“We’ve been raising money for the campaign,” he said. “We’ve been organizing for the campaign and I believe that we have the ability if we can raise some more money to be able to be the first state or one of the first four states to pass this and to be able to defend this at the ballot.”