The National Organization for Marriage
began airing a 30-second advertisement attacking New Hampshire
Governor John Lynch for signing a gay marriage bill into law last
June.
The campaign “Lynch Lied” includes
a $200,000 cable and network television ad buy and a website
on the same theme.
“New Hampshire residents were shocked
last year when they learned that Governor John Lynch had been lying
to them about his position on gay marriage,” Brian Brown, executive
director of NOM, said in a statement. “Even though he promised
voters when he ran for office that he did not support gay marriage,
Lynch signed same-sex marriage legislation into law.”
“Wonder why John Lynch's approval
ratings are way down?” a male announcer asks in the ad.
“Lynch lied to us.”
Lynch, a Democrat, signed the gay
marriage bill into law only after lawmakers agreed to his demand to
strengthen its religious protections. The law went into effect on
January 1, 2010.
Despite holding out for the concession,
NOM, the nation's most vociferous opponent of gay marriage, said it
would work to oust the 57-year-old incumbent should he run for a
fourth term.
“We also intend to make the gay
marriage issue the key issue of the 2010 state elections in New
Hampshire,” Brown said last June. “Legislators must be held
accountable for their votes. And if Governor Lynch decides to seek
another term, you can be certain that he will have to answer to
voters over why he broke his word on this issue, despite repeated
promises over the years that he did not support gay marriage.”
The NOM ad also says Lynch has lied
about not increasing taxes, cutting spending and balancing New
Hampshire's budget.
The group is also spending $300,000 in
California
on ads attacking Senate candidate Tom Campbell, a moderate
Republican who supports gay marriage.