ME: How Was the Money Spent On Gay Marriage Fight?

The 2009 ballot question on gay marriage in Maine was the most expensive initiative campaign in Maine history, and the third most expensive statewide political campaign in the state's history. More than $7 million was spent on both sides. Only the U.S. Senate races of 2002 and 2008 were more costly. This report will examine where the money got spent, on both the "Yes" (anti-equality) and "No" (pro-equality) sides. There were some significant differences in how the funds were allocated among different sources. Brief synopses will be provided on the major vendors on both sides. Finally, some suggestions for future equality campaigns will be offered. Step One: Get the Issue On the Ballot Before there could even be a campaign, the "People's Veto" needed to get the requisite number of signatures to qualify it for the state ballot. In Maine, that requires collecting roughly 55,000 signatures. Stand for Marriage Maine (the Yes on 1 campaign) spent more than $300,000 to gather the signatures. A Michigan-based firm, National Petition Management, was contracted to perform this task. They succeeded. Still, this meant that Yes on 1 needed to raise $300,000 before there could even be a campaign. In my analysis I consider this to be pre-campaign expenditures and do not include it in my ratio calculations. Full Story from the Nolan Chart: http://www.nolanchart.com/article7146.html

Click here for gay marriage resources in Maine.

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Yes on 1 Plans Last Minute Attack Ad on Gay Marriage Supporters

Protect Maine Equality is requesting donations in order to counter a last-minute attack and appeal for money from the "Yes on 1" people, who sent out an email blast asking fro money in order to buy air time for a new attack ad. Writes Stand for Marriage Maine (the bad guys) in an email: "Dear Question 1 Supporter, We are so grateful for all your support, but I need to ask you one last time to please step up with a financial contribution so we can educate voters about a fast-breaking development that could be important to voters as they head to the polls on Tuesday." Full Story from Towleroad.com: http://www.towleroad.com/2009/11/protect-maine-equality-is-requesting-donations-in-order-to-counter-a-last-minute-attack-and-appeal-for-money-from-the-yes-on.html

Planning to marry your partner? Click here for gay marriage resources in Maine.

To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook - just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you'll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We're also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.

In Maine, No on 1 Raises $4 Million to Yes on 1's $2.6 Million

With a week and a half to go before Election Day, the two campaigns in the battle over gay marriage continue to haul in large sums of money from donors both inside and outside of Maine. The organization defending Maine’s same-sex marriage law continues to hold a sizable financial edge over the law’s detractors, although the gap has narrowed in recent weeks. No on 1-Protect Maine Equality has raised more than $4 million so far — including about $1.4 million since Oct. 1 — for its campaign to make Maine the first state in the nation where voters have endorsed same-sex marriages. The group working to repeal Maine’s gay marriage law, Stand for Marriage Maine, more than doubled its war chest in three weeks by raising roughly $1.4 million in October. Stand for Marriage Maine has raised a total of $2.6 million, according to reports filed Friday with the Maine Ethics Commission. Full Story from The Bangor Daily News: http://www.bangordailynews.com/detail/126665.html

Planning to marry your partner? Click here for gay marriage resources in Maine.

To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook - just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you'll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We're also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.

National Public Radio Tells Anti Gay Marriage Group to Stop Using Clip in Ad

National Public Radio is demanding that a political action committee stop using a radio clip as part of its efforts to repeal Maine's same-sex marriage law. The group Stand for Marriage Maine began airing the ad last week on television stations and the Internet. The ad uses audio from a 2004 NRP story titled, "Massachusetts Schools Grapple with Including Gay & Lesbian Relationships in Sex Education." Full Story from WBZ TV: http://wbztv.com/wireapnewsme/NPR.demanding.that.2.1261537.html

Planning to marry your partner? Click here for gay marriage resources in Maine.

To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook - just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you'll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We're also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.

Maine Gay Marriage Foes Lie - Again - About Effect on Education

Same-sex marriage opponents blasted Attorney General Janet Mills on Friday for issuing an opinion that gay marriage would not affect school curriculums if gay couples are allowed to marry in Maine. Marc Mutty of Yes on 1 released a 10-paragraph statement saying that, regardless of whether it's an official part of state-mandated curricula, gay marriage will be taught in Maine schools unless the state's gay-marriage law is repealed. "When they study the facts, Mainers will see right through Ms. Mills' opinion for what it is: a shameless political ploy by supporters of homosexual marriage," Mutty said in the statement. Full Story from the Kennebec Journal: http://kennebecjournal.mainetoday.com/news/local/6987621.html

Planning to marry your partner? Click here for gay marriage resources in Maine.

To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook - just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you'll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We're also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.

Maine Gay Marriage Opponents Raised $1.1 Million

Stand for Marriage Maine says it raised $1.1 million and spent more than $941,000. The Legislature approved the bill and Gov. John Baldacci signed it into law in May. But the law has not gone into effect, pending the outcome of the election. The opposing political action committees released their figures Tuesday, the deadline for filing their latest quarterly reports with state campaign regulators. The campaigns are trying to persuade voters through TV ads and other media in advance of the Nov. 3 people's veto referendum. Full Story from the Morning Sentinel: http://morningsentinel.mainetoday.com/news/local/6975688.html

Planning to marry your partner? Click here for gay marriage resources in Maine.

To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook - just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you'll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We're also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.

New Yes on 1 Ad in Maine Tries to Stir Fears Using "Who's in a Family" Book

In the latest campaign spot by Stand for Marriage Maine, a school counselor at Nokomis High School in Newport suggests that if Maine's same-sex marriage law isn't overturned, young children in Maine could soon be introduced to a book called "Who's In a Family." The ad uses an excerpt from a telephone interview with the Book's author, Robert Skutch of California, that was conducted by a Boston-based public radio program called Here and Now in 2005. In that same interview, Skutch goes on to say that he can understand why people might be afraid of the reality of same-sex couples, but he says his book is about all different kinds of families: those headed by single parents, grandparents, immigrants and two men or two women. "The book was written basically because my niece and her partner decided they wanted to have a family," Skutch said. "I was involved with seeing them when they were very little, this little boy, and it occurred to me, you know it's a shame that he's going to go to school and that he's going to be made fun of because he's got two mothers. And I thought that isn't right and that's what inspired the book. And that's only one little part of the book." Full Story from MPBN: http://www.mpbn.net/Home/tabid/36/ctl/ViewItem/mid/3478/ItemId/9321/Default.aspx

Planning to marry your partner? Click here for gay marriage resources in Maine.

To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook - just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you'll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We're also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.

Yes on 1 Campaign in Maine Looks Like Prop 8 Re-Run

Maine is the latest battleground for same-sex marriage, with voters deciding next month whether to approve a measure overturning their state Legislature's decision in May to legalize such marriages. The campaign for the measure, known as Question 1, looks like a rerun of last year's Proposition 8 in California, which struck down same-sex marriage. TV ads for the measure are the work of the Sacramento firm of Schubert Flint Public Affairs, which ran the successful California campaign. On the other side of the Maine campaign, same-sex marriage supporters see the similar campaigns as a boon. They've learned from the missteps of the campaign against Prop. 8 and are responding to ads against same-sex marriage within 36 hours. Full Story from SF Gate: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/10/07/MNJ71A0AJ9.DTL&tsp=1

Planning to marry your partner? Click here for gay marriage resources in California.

To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook - just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you'll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We're also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.

Maine's Yes on 1 Fundraising to Be Investigated by State

Maine's campaign oversight board overruled a staff recommendation Thursday and authorized an investigation into fundraising by groups supporting the campaign to repeal the state's gay marriage law in a Nov. 3 referendum. The Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices voted 3-2 after some members said there was sufficient evidence to warrant a closer look at finance reporting by the National Organization for Marriage, a major contributor to Stand for Marriage Maine. The latter group is leading the people's veto campaign to repeal Maine's legislatively enacted law recognizing same-sex marriages. Maine's law, which was signed in May by Gov. John Baldacci, and the challenge forced by a petition drive have drawn national attention. Full Story from the AP: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5grllk_nt63q2NPIotyM9xpL4hwkwD9B2DUP80

Planning to marry your partner? Click here for gay marriage resources in Maine.

To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com with "subscribe blog" as the subject. Or find us on Facebook - just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you'll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We're also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.

Staff of Maine Ethics Commission Recomends No Investigation Into Yes on 1 Finances

The Maine ethics commission staff says no investigation is warranted into fundraising by groups supporting the campaign to repeal Maine's gay marriage law. The recommendation goes to the five-member commission, which votes Thursday on whether to launch an investigation. The matter stems from a complaint by Californians Against Hate founder Fred Karger, who says groups contributing to the Stand for Marriage campaign are not reporting the names of many donors as the law requires. Stand for Marriage is leading the push for a people's veto of Maine's gay marriage law Nov. 3. Full Story from WGME: http://www.wgme.com/template/inews_wire/wires.regional.me/3ec238e9-www.wgme.com.shtml

Planning to marry your partner? Click here for gay marriage resources in Maine.

To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com with "subscribe blog" as the subject. Or find us on Facebook - just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you'll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We're also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.