Only 11 percent of voters see gay
marriage as an important factor in the Iowa Senate contest between
Liz Mathis and Cindy Golding.
A Public
Policy Polling survey released Sunday shows Democrat Mathis ahead
of her Republican rival 52 to 46 percent.
Pollsters also asked: “Is the gay
marriage issue the most important factor influencing your vote or
not?”
Eleven percent said the issue was
guiding their vote, while 86 percent said the issue had not
influenced them.
Groups opposed to gay marriage,
including the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) and Bob Vander
Plaat's The Family Leader, have attempted to make the special
election about gay marriage, despite the fact that neither candidate
has made much of the issue.
“The Future of Marriage Hangs In the
Balance,” reads the headline of a NOM mailer attacking Mathis for
her tepid support for gay marriage.
“This is a pivotal election contest
in our battle to allowing the people of Iowa the opportunity to vote
to restore marriage,” said NOM President Brian Brown in a
statement.
A Golding win would wipe out Democrats'
one seat majority in the Senate, where Majority Leader Michael
Gronstal has kept an effort to repeal the state's gay marriage law at
bay.
The Iowa Supreme Court legalized gay
marriage in 2009.