OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jay Inslee supports an effort to allow civil marriage for same-sex couples in Washington state.
Inslee spokeswoman Jaime Smith said Monday that the U.S. congressman believes “it is the next logical step.”
A coalition called Washington United for Marriage announced Monday it would lobby the Legislature to approve a gay marriage law next year. In 2009 the Legislature passed, and voters later upheld, a bill that greatly expanded the rights of same-sex domestic partners. That measure was known as the “everything but marriage” bill. Nearly 19,000 people in Washington state are registered as domestic partners.
The campaign manager for Republican candidate Rob McKenna, the state’s attorney general, said that while McKenna supports the state’s current domestic partnership law, he does not support same-sex marriage.
“Rob believes that this is an issue that is going to be decided by the voters,” said Randy Pepple.
