Chris Hughes, a co-founder of Facebook
and the publisher of The New Republic, is backing a
fundraising challenge to benefit the campaign to win gay marriage in
Maine.
Hughes and his fiance Sean Eldridge, a
senior adviser to Freedom to Marry, have agreed to match every dollar
raised by Mainers
United for Marriage in the next four weeks, up to $100,000.
“With this match, and your support,
we will be able to hire more organizers, reach more Mainers, and
continue the work that will help us win in November,” Matt McTighe,
campaign manager for Mainers United for Marriage, said in an email to
supporters.
Supporters are returning the issue to
the ballot box after voters in 2009 narrowly repealed a marriage law
approved by lawmakers with a “people's veto,” known as Question
1.
According to recent polls,
a majority (58.2%) of Mainers support marriage equality.
If approved, Maine would become the
first state to legalize such unions at the ballot box.
In
September, Hughes donated $10,000 to the unsuccessful campaign to
defeat North Carolina's constitutional amendment banning gay marriage
in the state.