Gay rights supporters outspend opponents by 3 to 1

[Thom Little]

Gay rights supporters outspent opponents by a 3-to-1 margin during this year's campaign over a statewide gay rights law.

Maine Won't Discriminate, the group that successfully derailed an attempt to repeal the state's gay rights law, spent a total of $1.1 million for its campaign, according to filings with the Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices.

That was nearly three times what the Maine Grassroots Coalition and the Coalition for Marriage, a political arm of the Christian Civic League of Maine, spent on their campaigns to repeal the law. Combined, they spent just short of $412,000, according to spending documents filed with the state.

.......

Paul Madore of the Maine Grassroots Coalition said that supporters of the repeal effort were simply outspent, especially in getting out the vote.

"All of these things add up to votes, and in the end we had to realize they had more marbles than us," said Madore.


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