While Republicans lost three seats so far in the U.S. Senate, South Carolina became the 22nd state in the nation to add a marriage-protection amendment to its constitution.
With 722 of 2,059 precincts reporting, South Carolina's marriage amendment was passing with 77 percent of the popular vote -- a percentage Palmetto Family Council president Oran Smith said he was not surprised to see.
"People I've talked to today said the marriage amendment was the topic of conversation while standing in line (at the polls)," Smith said. "So, where there were long lines in this hot Bible-Belt territory, talking about the marriage amendment and knowing what it means is all you need out here."
In Virginia, with 82 percent of precincts reporting, the bid to define marriage only as the union of one man and one woman was passing with 58 percent of the vote -- not the overwhelming margins seen in other states in 2004, but enough to do the job.
"At the end of the day, all that matters is that marriage was protected in our constitution," said Victoria Cobb, executive director of The Family Foundation of Virginia. "This is a historic vote that defined the value of marriage in our society. We can now say Virginia will not redefine marriage."
She said a recent ruling from the New Jersey Supreme Court ordering the Legislature to either pass a law giving homosexuals marriage or civil unions may have played a role in turning out the vote.
"I certainly think the New Jersey decision had a big impact, because it reminded voters what this issue was all about," Cobb said. "Our opponents tried to make this about everything but marriage, but when New Jersey ruled, it reminded our voters that judges in another state could decide our values. It was important that we protect marriage now, that we not wait any longer for this issue to be clear in our constitution. Every year, there are new candidates and new issues, but today we took a big step."
