The Nine Senate Democrats Who Still Don't Support Gay Marriage

[DonViejo]

By Josh Voorhees | Posted Wednesday, March 27, 2013, at 2:10 PM

Democratic Sens. Kay Hagan of North Carolina, Jon Tester of Montana, Mark Warner of Virginia and Claire McCaskill of Missouri all came out in favor of gay marriage this week, the latest in a seeming avalanche of support for the social issue of the moment. That may have you wondering: Who, exactly, is left in the Senate's Democratic caucus who hasn't come forward to support allowing gays and lesbians to walk down the aisle? We're glad you asked. Here are the nine holdouts, along with how far out each is from his or her next election. (h/t the Huffington Post, which has a solid recap of each senator's most recent public statements on the matter here.)
Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania. Up for reelection in 2018.
Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia. Up for reelection in 2018.
Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida. Up for reelection in 2018.
Sen. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota. Up for reelection in 2018.
Sen. Tom Carper of Delaware. Up for reelection in 2018.
Sen. Joe Donnelly of Indiana. Up for reelection in 2018.
Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana. Up for reelection in 2014.
Sen. Mark Pryor of Arkansas. Up for reelection in 2014.
Sen. Tim Johnson of South Dakota. Won't run for reelection in 2014.

Of the nine, only Carper, Nelson, and Casey hail from states won by President Obama in last fall's election. (It's also probably worth remembering that this time last year, Obama had yet come out in favor of same-sex marriage himself.)

Of the four most recent conversions, Hagan and Warner face reelection next year, while McCaskill and Tester are fresh off winning another six-year term last fall. Hagan's announcement remains the most politically daring given it was only last year that North Carolina voters easily passed an amendment banning gay marriages and civil unions in the state (although she was already on record on opposing that amendment, so it's unlikely she'd have been able to avoid the topic on the campaign trail).

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http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2013/03/27/which_senate_democrats_still_don_t_support_gay_marriage_casey_manchin_nelson.html?wpisrc=newsletter_jcr:content

[Deep13]

1. They may think they are taking safe positions...

...but I doubt that they are. Sn. Portman (R-OH) just flipped on the issue, so it won't be an issue when the Ds challenge him in '14. Suppose Landrieu and Pryor face R challengers that are pro gay marriage. That could cost them the election next year.

[dsc]

2. They have a better chance of being hit by meteors than facing pro marraige Republicans

in those states. Arkansas is about the most anti gay locale on the planet and Louisiana, if you take out New Orleans would have to be the second.

[Freddie]

3. Sen. Casey (PA) is a publicly devout Catholic

Not that that's an excuse to be against human rights, but that's why he votes the way he does on some issues. Anti-choice too, but not a nutcase about it. It's hard to vote for him, but he's a reliable Democratic vote on all other issues. Plus the alternative was Rick Santorum.

[Fearless]

4. And now he needs to have his feet put in the fire.

[Gravitycollapse]

5. You can't be anti-choice and not be a nutcase.

[BillStein]

6. I supported Casey

But that was the lesser of two evils. santorum had to go!

[Zorra]

7. Thanks. nt