May 14, 2009 8:50 am US/Eastern
Poll: New Yorkers Split On Same-Sex Marriage
ALBANY (CBS) ―
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A woman watches a broadcast in front of City Hall of hearings in the California Supreme Court for and against Proposition 8 on March 5, 2009, in San Francisco.
David Paul Morris/Getty Images
The latest poll shows New Yorkers are split on whether to legalize same-sex marriage even as the state Legislature moves closer to the landmark action.
The Quinnipiac University poll finds a 46-percent split on the issue among those with an opinion. In a 2004 poll, Quinnipiac found 55 percent of New Yorkers opposed same-sex marriage.
But the poll finds most New Yorkers -- 65 percent -- support civil unions that could provide most or all of the legal and property rights already given to married heterosexual couples.
The poll released Thursday comes two days after the Assembly approved the measure and sent it to the Senate.
Quinnipiac questioned 2,828 voters from May 5-11. The poll has a margin of error of just under 2 percentage points.
Advocates say they will talk to all 62 senators if they have to, but they are especially interested in targeting Republicans like Vincent Leibell of Patterson, Charles Fuschillo Jr. of Massapequa, Kemp Hannon of Garden City, John Flanagan of East Northport, Kenneth Lavalle of Port Jefferson and Elizabeth Little of Plattsburgh.
Why? A number of Assembly Republicans who voted no in 2007 voted yes this year.
"If you look at where those Assembly votes came from, those pick-ups came from inside Senate districts whose senators our folks are really trying to talk to and share their stories with and whose votes we hope we can win," Van Capelle said.
Also on the target list are Democrats Darrel Aubertine, William Stachowsky, David Valesky, Shirley Huntley and George Onorato, whose Astoria district seems divided on the question.
"Well, I'm Catholic and it's, you know, against my religion," said Joseph Massaro of Astoria.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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