Miscellany Blue - NH Politics

Poll: 64% Oppose Repeal of Same Sex Marriage

As the New Hampshire House prepares to debate a bill to repeal gay marriage (HB 437 as amended), a new survey indicates how strongly residents support the law that allows gay couples to marry.

A Voter Consumer Research poll, to be publicly released tomorrow, shows voters support the state’s marriage equality law by a 64% to 31% margin. Even likely Republican primary voters are evenly split on the issue, with 47% opposing repeal and 47% in favor.

Rep. Steve Vaillancourt writes that the survey contains a warning to Republican legislators who support repeal.

VCR found gay marriage is not a major voting issue even among Republicans. When asked how they would react if their state legislator voted against repeal, 60 percent said they would either support that legislator or the issue “would make no difference in their vote”.

The poll summary warns Republican insiders that those in risk of not being re-elected are ones who do not appear to be focused on more important issues (fiscal and economic matters) or those “voting for repeal of a law that the majority of voters support leaving on the books as is”.

The VCR poll is consistent with earlier surveys showing lopsided majorities in support of New Hampshire’s same-sex marriage law. A WMUR Granite State Poll, conducted in October by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center, found New Hampshire adults opposed repeal by a similar 62% to 27% margin.

Voter Consumer Research, the pollster for former President George W. Bush, conducted the survey of 712 likely New Hampshire voters on December 11-15, 2011. The poll has a +/-3.7% margin of error.