WA: Poll Shows 56%-38% Lead For Approve R-74

A new poll out of Washington state shows a dramatic increase in support for marriage equality in that state, with 56% of respondents indicating that they would approve Referendum 74 while only 38% indicating that they would reject the marriage equality measure. This is a big change from previous polls from June (51% same-sex marriage legal, 42% same-sex marriage illegal) and July (50% Approve, 43% Disapprove) which had worried LGBT equality activists in Washington and beyond.

On the money front, Washington is doing rather well. Washington United for Marriage announced recently that it has raised over $7 million dollars to defend marriage equality this November, $1.8 million of which came in during August.

[Washington United for Marriage] now has 13,866 individual contributors, believed to be the largest number of donors in any Washington state ballot campaign.  According to the Public Disclosure Commission’s online records dating from 2000, only 2008’s I-1000 came close, with approximately 9,500 contributors.

The average median gift in August was $50, with 84 percent of those donations coming from Washington state.  Additionally, those 5,000-plus new contributors in August constitute a 47% increase over the 8,900 individuals who had donated to the campaign by the end of July.

“We are so energized by the confidence so many people and organizations have placed in our campaign and the drive to defend our marriage law in November,” said Zach Silk, WUM’s campaign manager. “With the campaign season now fully in gear, we’ve got a broad and deep field organization in literally every corner of the state and none of that would have been possible without the generosity of our donors.”

At the same time that the campaign set statewide fund raising records, WUM’s field effort continued to build into one of the largest ever launched in a statewide ballot measure.

One thing to watch as one assesses the likelihood of success in the four ongoing statewide ballot fights over marriage equality occurring in Maine, Washington, Maryland and Minnesota is not only the amount of money raised but also what they are spending it on. WA is spending theirs on developing a field campaign, and they have enough resources for a robust television ad campaign.