OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — An undecided Democratic lawmaker is taking a stance on same-sex marriage marriage.
Sen. Jim Kastama of Puyallup has scheduled a press conference for Thursday to declare his position. Supporters of the bill are just two votes shy in the Senate, and Kastama is one of a half-dozen lawmakers who remain uncommitted.
Kastama is a conservative Democrat who voted in 1998 to define marriage as between one man and one woman. He supported a 2009 expansion of the state’s domestic partnership laws.
The state House is widely expected to have enough support to pass gay marriage, and Gov. Chris Gregoire publicly endorsed the proposal earlier this month.