Alabama Gay-Marriage Turmoil Leaves Potential 2016 Candidates Speechless
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Dendron/iStock/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — Same-sex couples married in some Alabama courthouses on Tuesday, but many counties still refused to allow the unions to proceed despite rulings from a federal judge and the U.S. Supreme Court, which allowed them to begin in the state Monday.
Where the potential 2016 presidential candidates stand on the issue is hard to know, because most of them are not weighing in.
ABC News reached out to the prospective candidates to ask whether judges in the state should be following or disobeying the federal ruling, and most declined to comment or didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., declined to comment on the specific case in Alabama, but noted that states will have to comply with what the Supreme Court decides on same-sex marriage this summer.
“I’ve just read the headlines about what’s happening in Alabama, so I’m not quite sure what the details are with regards to what the legal arguments the state is using as to why they don’t need to comply with it,” Rubio said.
“I believe marriage should be between one man and one woman. I believe states – through their legal process, through their legislative process – have the right to define it any way they choose, although I would strongly advocate for what I believe should be traditional marriage.”
Rubio continued: “There’s going to be a Supreme Court ruling in June of this year so they say and I think that would answer a lot of questions about the future of that question in our country and I think that unless that case is overturned by a future Supreme Court or by a constitutional amendment, which I don’t see as likely, states are going to have to comply with whatever that ruling is.”
Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, a Republican, also said he believes it is a “state issue.”
“The Supreme Court will take it up in June,” Perry spokeswoman Lucy Nashed said. “Until then, this is a matter between the State of Alabama and the courts.”
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said he wants to see Congress pass an amendment to the Constitution if the Supreme Court overrules gay-marriage bans in the states.
“We’re a nation of laws, that’s why I said I want the Supreme Court not to overturn our laws,” the Republican said on CNN’s New Day Tuesday morning. “If the Supreme Court were to do this, I think the remedy would be a constitutional amendment in the Congress to tell the courts you can’t overturn what the states have decided.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said, “I support traditional marriage and the courts are working their way through this issue, but at the end of the day, the supremacy clause is the supremacy clause,” referring to federal law and the U.S. Constitution that take precedence over state laws.
Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, a Republican, also kept it vague, saying in a statement “this is an important conversation that is going on in homes, churches, and communities across the country. I think that the worst thing the federal courts can do right now is shortcut this conversation.”
A representative for Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., noted that the senator supported civil unions in Vermont, the first state to pass civil union legislation without being forced to act by a court order, and that when Sanders was a member of the House, he voted against the Defense of Marriage Act. The senator has not weighed in on the chaos in Alabama.
Former New York Gov. George Pataki, a Republican, declined to comment on the issue. Both former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb, both Democrats, have expressed support for same-sex marriage, but both also declined to comment to ABC News on the Alabama issue.
Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, a Democrat, also did not directly comment, but his representative pointed to a tweet from the governor last month in which he argued “marriage equality is not a states’ rights issue,” but a “fundamental right that we should extend to every American.”
It’s about time, #SCOTUS. #MarriageEquality is not a states’ rights issue, it is a fundamental right that we should extend to every American
— Martin O’Malley (@GovernorOMalley) January 16, 2015
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, all Republicans, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., did not respond to requests for comment.
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