Rick Santorum has made the dubious
claim that ousting Iowa Supreme Court Justice David Wiggins could
lead to reversing a gay marriage law.
Conservatives angry at the state
Supreme Court's unanimous 2009 ruling which brought gay marriage to
the Midwest have targeted Wiggins for ouster. In 2010, voters axed
three judges from the bench. The remaining three justices are up for
retention votes in 2016.
Last week, the “No Wiggins”
campaign released its first TV ad.
In the ad, an announcer says, “We
must hold David Wiggins responsible for redefining marriage and
legislating from the bench.” (The video is embedded on this page.
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Santorum, who lost the GOP presidential
nominating contest to Mitt Romney, told a crowd gathered at a “No
Wiggins” bus tour stop that removing Wiggins could lead to ending
marriage equality in the state.
“Now you have an opportunity to tip
the balance with a fourth justice and an opportunity to even reverse
this horrific decision,” Santorum said.
However, there is no case challenging
the decision wending its way to the state's high court.
Reversing the law would require passage
of a constitutional amendment defining marriage as a heterosexual
union. The earliest such a measure could reach the ballot box is
2015. According to a Des Moines Register poll released in
February, already a majority (56%) of Iowans oppose an amendment
banning gay marriage.