PORTLAND, Maine — The National Organization for Marriage on Thursday transferred $250,000 to the Protect Marriage Maine political action committee, to aid in spearheading the campaign against Maine’s November ballot initiative seeking to legalize same-sex marriage.
In a telephone conference Thursday evening, Protect Marriage Maine campaign manager Frank Schubert, told reporters that NOM’s infusion of cash was vital, as the ballot question has national implications because Maine could become the first where same-sex marriage is legalized in a popular vote.
“It is a critical race for the survival of the institution of marriage in this country,” Schubert said. “It’s a race that the entire nation is looking at and will have an impact far beyond the borders of Maine.”
Schubert, a conservative political strategist, is funded by NOM and, in addition to the efforts in Maine, is also managing other campaigns opposing same-sex marriage ballot initiatives appearing this November in Maryland, Washington and Minnesota.
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Opponents in Maine thus far have raised only $100,000 to $200,000, he said, while a spokesman for the Human Rights Campaign told LGBTQ Nation on Friday that same-sex marriage supporters expect to raise and spend $5 million or more.
Schubert acknowledged that recent polling suggests that the Maine ballot question is close. However, he felt confident the question will fail.
The Maine Legislature in 2009 legalized same-sex marriage, but voters later that year overturned the law 53 percent to 47 percent.
In Maryland and Washington, residents are voting in November on ballot questions that would overturn same-sex marriage laws passed by those states’ legislatures. Voters in Minnesota are voting on a constitutional amendment that would define marriage as a union between a man and a woman.
