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A Phoenix poll of state reps and senators on the anti-gay-marriage constitutional amendment
BY DEIRDRE FULTON
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When it comes to the Marriage Affirmation and Protection Amendment (House Bill 3190), it seems nothing is set in stone. There’s the question of whether the February 11 constitutional convention, at which the amendment will be debated, will happen at all. Senate president Robert Travaglini, who presides over the convention, has indicated that he will postpone it if the Supreme Judicial Court hasn’t issued a ruling on whether a civil-union bill would satisfy the court’s November ruling that same-sex couples have a right to wed. And if the convention goes on as scheduled and the amendment is brought forward, no one is quite sure what the bill’s language will be (it may be changed to provide for civil unions). And if a recent informal and incomplete poll of the House and Senate is any indication, many state legislators have yet to decide how they feel about the amendment, which, in its current wording, defines marriage as "the union of one man and one woman." (There are 160 members of the House and 40 members of the Senate.) While a larger percentage of those who responded to several phone calls and e-mails said they would vote against such an amendment, the positions of an unsettling half of both legislative bodies remain unknown, and that’s not counting those who did respond but said they were undecided. Many said they were continuing to sort through constituent phone calls and e-mails before they made a decision. More often than not, those who said they would support the amendment claimed they were doing so to protect traditional family values. Representatives and senators were asked: if the amendment, in its current language, were to come up at the constitutional convention, would you vote for or against it? Here are their responses.
Representatives who oppose the amendment
Representatives who are undecided
Representatives who declined to comment
Representatives who favor the amendment
Representatives who didn’t respond to our poll
Senators who oppose the amendment
Senators who declined to comment
Senators who favor the amendment
Senators who didn’t respond to our poll
Representatives who oppose the amendment:
Cory Atkins (D-Concord)
Ruth Balser (D-Newton)
Deborah Blumer (D-Framingham)
Christine Canavan (D-Brockton)
Robert Coughlin (D-Dedham)
Salvatore DiMasi (D-Boston)
Carol Donovan (D-Woburn)
James Eldridge (D-Acton)
Michael Festa (D-Melrose)
Barry Finegold (D-Andover)
William Galvin (D-Canton)
Mary Grant (D-Beverly)
Lida Harkins (D-Needham)
Patricia Jehlen (D-Somerville)
Louis Kafka (D-Sharon)
Rachel Kaprielian (D-Watertown)
Jay Kaufman (D-Lexington)
Shaun Kelly (R-Dalton)
Kay Khan (D-Newton)
Peter Koutoujian (D-Newton)
Barbara L’Italien (D-Andover)
David Linsky (D-Natick)
James Marzilli (D-Arlington)
Charles Murphy (D-Burlington)
Matthew Patrick (D-Falmouth)
Alice Peisch (D-Wellesley)
Smitty Pignatelli (D-Lenox)
Michael Rodrigues (D-Westport)
Jeffery Sanchez (D-Boston)
John Scibak (D–South Hadley)
Frank Israel Smizik (D-Brookline)
Theodore Speliotis (D-Danvers)
Robert Spellane (D-Worcester)
Harriett Stanley (D–West Newbury)
Thomas Stanley (D-Waltham)
Ellen Story (D-Amherst)
David Sullivan (D–Fall River)
Timothy Toomey (D-Cambridge)
David Torrisi (D–North Andover)
Eric Turkington (D-Falmouth)
Martin Walsh (D-Boston)
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Representatives who are undecided about the amendment:
Paul Casey (D-Winchester)
Gloria Fox (D-Boston)
Patricia Haddad (D-Somerset)
Bradford Hill (R-Ipswich)
Mark Howland (D-Freetown)
Thomas Kennedy (D-Brockton)
Ronald Mariano (D-Quincy)
James Murphy (D-Weymouth)
Thomas O’Brien (D-Kingston)
Marie Parente (D-Milford)
Vincent Pedone (D-Worcester)
John Quinn (D-Dartmouth)
James Vallee (D-Franklin)
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Representatives who declined to comment
John Binienda (D-Worcester)
Antonio Cabral (D–New Bedford)
Gale Candaras (D-Wilbraham)
Brian Golden (D-Boston)
Michael Kane (D-Holyoke)
Stephen Kulik (D-Worthington)
Eugene O’Flaherty (D-Chelsea)
Karyn Polito (R-Shrewsbury)
Byron Rushing (D-Boston)
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Representatives who favor the amendment:
Christopher Asselin (D-Springfield)
Bruce Ayers (D-Quincy)
Scott Brown (R-Wrentham)
Edward Connolly (D-Everett)
Robert Correia (D–Fall River)
Viriato deMacedo (R-Plymouth)
Paul Donato (D-Medford)
James Fagan (D-Taunton)
Thomas Finneran (D-Boston)
David Flynn (D-Bridgewater)
Thomas George (R-Yarmouth)
Robert Hargraves (R-Groton)
Reed Hillman (R-Sturbridge)
Paul Kujawski (D-Webster)
William Lantigua (U-Lawrence)
Stephen LeDuc (D-Marlborough) — only if it is amended to allow civil unions
James Miceli (D-Wilmington)
Jeffrey Perry (R-Sandwich)
George Peterson (R-Grafton)
Elizabeth Poirier (R–North Attleborough)
Angelo Scaccia (D-Boston)
Philip Travis — chief sponsor (D-Rehoboth)
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Representatives who didn’t respond to our poll: Demetrius Atsalis (D-Barnstable)
Daniel Bosley (D–North Adams)
Garrett Bradley (D-Hingham)
Arthur Broadhurst (D-Methuen)
Stephen Buoniconti (D–West Springfield)
Jennifer Callahan (D-Sutton)
Mark Carron (D-Southbridge)
Vincent Ciampa (D-Somerville)
Michael Coppola (R-Foxborough)
Michael Costello (D-Newburyport)
Geraldine Creedon (D-Brockton)
Robert DeLeo (D-Winthrop)
Paul Demakis (D-Boston)
Brian Dempsey (D-Haverhill)
Christopher Donelan (D-Orange)
Joseph Driscoll (D-Braintree)
Lewis Evangelidis (R-Holden)
Christopher Fallon (D-Malden)
Mark Falzone (D-Saugus)
Robert Fennell (D-Lynn)
Paul Frost (R-Auburn)
Colleen Garry (D-Dracut)
Susan Gifford (R-Wareham)
Anne Gobi (D-Spencer)
Emile Goguen (D-Fitchburg)
Thomas Golden (D-Lowell)
Shirley Gomes (R-Harwich)
William Greene (D-Billerica)
Geoffrey Hall (D-Westford)
Kevin Honan (D-Boston)
Donald Humason (R-Westfield)
Frank Hynes (D-Marshfield)
Bradley Jones (R–North Reading)
Daniel Keenan (D-Southwick)
Brian Knuuttila (D-Gardner)
Peter Kocot (D-Northhampton)
Robert Koczera (D–New Bedford)
Peter Larkin (D-Pittsfield)
James Leary (D-Worcester)
John Lepper (R-Attleboro)
Paul Loscocco (R-Holliston)
Elizabeth Malia (D-Boston)
James Murphy (D-Weymouth)
Kevin Murphy (D-Lowell)
David Nangle (D-Lowell)
Harold Naughton (D-Clinton)
Robert Nyman (D-Hanover)
Shirley Owens-Hicks (D-Boston)
Anne Paulsen (D-Belmont)
Douglas Petersen (D-Marblehead)
Thomas Petrolati (D-Ludlow)
Anthony Petruccelli (D-Boston)
Susan Pope (R-Wayland)
Kathi-Anne Reinstein (D-Revere)
Cheryl Rivera (D-Springfield)
Mary Rogeness (R-Longmeadow)
John Rogers (D-Norwood)
Michael Ruane (D-Salem)
Michael Rush (D-Boston)
Mary Jane Simmons (D-Leominster)
Joyce Spiliotis (D-Peabody)
Karen Spilka (D-Ashland)
Marie St. Fleur (D-Boston)
William Straus (D-Mattapoisset)
Benjamin Swan (D-Springfield)
Kathleen Teahan (D-Whitman)
Walter Timilty (D-Milton)
Stephen Tobin (D-Quincy)
Anthony Verga (D-Gloucester)
Joseph Wagner (D-Chicopee)
Brian Wallace (D-Boston)
Patricia Walrath (D-Stow)
Steven Walsh (D-Lynn)
Daniel Webster (R-Hanson)
Alice Wolf (D-Cambridge)
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Senators who oppose the amendment:
Jarrett Barrios (D-Cambridge)
Harriette Chandler (D-Worcester)
Cynthia Stone Creem (D-Newton)
Brian Joyce (D-Milton)
Joan Menard (D-Somerset)
Mark Montigny (D–New Bedford)
Therese Murray (D-Plymouth)
Robert O’Leary (D-Barnstable)
Pamela Resor (D-Worcestor)
Charles Shannon (D-Winchester)
Jo Ann Sprague (R-Walpole)
Richard Tisei (R-Wakefield)
Steven Tolman (D-Boston)
Dianne Wilkerson (D-Boston)
Senators who are undecided about the amendment
Robert Antonioni (D-Leominster)
Robert Hedlund (R-Weymouth)
Michael Knapik (R-Westfield)
David Magnani (D-Framingham)
Marian Walsh (D-Boston)
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Senators who declined to comment on the amendment:
Stanley Rosenberg (D-Amherst)
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Senators who favor the amendment:
Steven Panagiotakos (D-Lowell)
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Senators who didn’t respond to our poll:
Steven Baddour (D-Methuen)
Frederick Berry (D-Peabody)
Stephen Brewer (D-Barre)
Robert Creedon (D-Brockton)
Susan Fargo (D-Lincoln)
Guy William Glodis (D-Worcester)
Jack Hart (D-Boston)
Robert Havern (D-Arlington)
Brian Lees (R–East Longmeadow)
Thomas McGee (D-Lynn)
Linda Melconian (D-Springfield)
Richard Moore (D-Uxbridge)
Michael Morrissey (D-Quincy)
Andrea Nuciforo (D-Pittsfield)
Marc Pacheco (D-Taunton)
Bruce Tarr (R-Gloucester)
Robert Travaglini (D-Boston)
Susan Tucker (D-Andover)
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