Whether a second attempt to repeal New Hampshire's gay marriage law will be made next year could depend largely on who is elected governor in the fall.

Rep. David Bates, the Republican whose bill to repeal the state's 2-year-old gay marriage law and replace it with civil unions died on the House floor Wednesday, told the AP that a governor sympathetic to repeal could alter the debate.

“If we have a governor in place more favorable to traditional marriage, that will change the dynamic considerably,” he said.

Governor John Lynch, a Democrat who signed the gay marriage law, promised to veto the repeal bill if approved by lawmakers.

Roughly 100 Republicans in the House, where Democrats are outnumbered by three to one, voted against the measure.

Bates insisted that without the threat of a veto – which requires a two-thirds majority to override – “winning a majority vote is well within the realm of possibilities.”

The four candidates vying to govern the state are evenly divided on the issue.

Democrats Jackie Cilley and Maggie Hassan voted for the law in 2009 as state senators.

“I strongly oppose any repeal of marriage equality,” Hassan said in a statement on Wednesday.

“In my mind it is a settled issue,” Cilley said the following day.

Republicans Kevin Smith and Ovide Lamontagne say they would sign the bill as governor, but neither believe it should be a priority.

“I support traditional marriage and if the Legislature were to put a bill on my desk to support that definition, I would sign it,” Smith stated. “That being said, it is not [on] my agenda as governor.”

Lamontage holds a similar view, telling the Hampton-North Hampton Patch that repeal is “not my top priority.”

“I believe in traditional marriage as well, but it's not my top priority,” he said. “And I think like anything else it's going to work its way out.”

“Let's focus on what really matters to people right on the Seacoast and around the state, and that's job creation, that's creating an environment that'll launch us into a new era of prosperity,” Lamontagne added.

(Related: Republicans play key role in defeating New Hampshire gay marriage repeal.)