Northwest Republicans' votes reflect GOP ambivalence on same-sex marriage law

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

55% :Newhouse pointed out that the bill guaranteed rights not only to same-sex couples but also interracial couples, adding, "I've got family on both parts of that, so absolutely it's a personal thing for me.
52% : The fact that just 18% of House Republicans and 24% of GOP senators voted for the bill speaks to the lasting influence of the party's base, particularly white Evangelical Christians, only 35% of whom support same-sex marriage, according to 2021 polling by the Public Religion Research Institute.
52% :The new law is largely symbolic, but it would take effect if the Supreme Court overturns nationwide same-sex or interracial marriage rights.
50% :The Respect for Marriage Act overturns a 1996 law that defined marriage as only between a man and a woman and requires states to recognize marriages performed in other states, although it doesn't mandate states to issue licenses for same-sex marriages.
50% : When the polling firm Gallup first asked Americans about same-sex marriage in 1996, only 27% supported it.
50% : After the Supreme Court established a right to same-sex marriage in 2015, that number was at 48%.
45% : WASHINGTON - President Joe Biden on Tuesday signed legislation to enshrine same-sex marriage rights in law, punctuating a dramatic shift in U.S. public opinion over the past decade.
42% : When the House first passed a version of the bill in July, prompted by Justice Clarence Thomas suggesting the Supreme Court should reconsider the 2015 decision that gave same-sex couples the right to wed, 47 Republicans voted for it - including Reps. Dan Newhouse of Sunnyside, Mike Simpson of Idaho Falls and Cliff Bentz of Ontario, Oregon - along with all 220 Democrats.
39% : U.S. public opinion on same-sex marriage has swung from overwhelming disapproval to widespread support in barely a generation.
38% : But McMorris Rodgers said Justice Samuel Alito's majority opinion "made it very clear" the court's decision was only about abortion.
21% : In a statement in July, Fulcher also pointed to Alito's majority opinion in the abortion case, saying it was clearly limited to abortion, adding that the bill "unnecessarily inserts the heavy hand of the federal government where it is not needed, creating a scenario where Idaho may be forced to recognize an evolving definition of marriage according to other states."

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