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Gay Marriage May Have Rallied Idaho Republicans Around Otter

Idaho Gov. Butch Otter talks with supporters at a campaign stop in Post Falls in October.
Jessica Robinson
/
Northwest News Network
Idaho Gov. Butch Otter talks with supporters at a campaign stop in Post Falls in October.

A federal appeals court Thursday upheld gay marriage bans in Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio and Michigan. It’s a break with the trend in most courts.

Idaho Gov. Butch Otter talks with supporters at a campaign stop in Post Falls in October.
Credit Jessica Robinson / Northwest News Network
/
Northwest News Network
Idaho Gov. Butch Otter talks with supporters at a campaign stop in Post Falls in October.

That could provide a legal opening for Idaho Governor Butch Otter, who has vowed to continue the fight against gay marriage in his state. The issue may have even helped him win re-election.

State Sen. Bob Nonini, part of a faction of far-right Republicans that’s been openly dissatisfied with Otter, was enthusiastic about Otter’s fight for Idaho’s voter-passed ban on gay marriage. He said three judges in San Francisco shouldn’t be able to overturn the will of the people.

Idaho Republican Party chair Steve Yates added, “I do think that the court's ruling had a galvanizing effect among the Republican base.” Yates said it may have rallied independent voters too.

Gay marriage took effect in Idaho on October 15 under court order. The ruling in Ohio means the issue of state gay marriage bans could be headed to the Supreme Court.

Copyright 2014 Northwest News Network

Jessica Robinson
Jessica Robinson reported for four years from the Northwest News Network's bureau in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho as the network's Inland Northwest Correspondent. From the politics of wolves to mining regulation to small town gay rights movements, Jessica covered the economic, demographic and environmental trends that have shaped places east of the Cascades. Jessica left the Northwest News Network in 2015 for a move to Norway.