Former Arkansas governor, Fox News
commentator and 2012 presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee has called
voter's November 2 decision to oust three of the seven Iowa Supreme
Court justices who brought gay marriage to the Midwest “historic,”
the AP reported.
“It was a very important statement
that voters made, a statement that resonated across the country and
one that I think will give legs to a larger movement over the next
few years,” he said.
The former Baptist minister was in Des
Moines on Sunday, where he addressed over 1,000 social conservatives
at an event organized by the Christian-based Iowa Family Policy
Center Action (IFPC Action), the state's largest group calling for
repeal of the state's gay marriage law.
Social conservatives aimed their fury
over the court's 2009 unanimous decision at the three judges up for a
retention vote.
The effort to kick the judges off the
bench was spearheaded by former GOP gubernatorial candidate Bob
Vander Plaats, who
has called for the remaining four judges to resign. Outside
groups – including The National Organization for Marriage (NOM),
the nation's most vociferous opponent of gay marriage, and the
American Family Association (AFA) – poured nearly $1 million into
the campaign.
Their victory – coupled with large
GOP wins on Election Day – has prompted new calls for lawmakers to
put the issue before voters, a
move Senate Majority Leader Michael Gronstal has already rejected.