This is the first step in what will be a sustained, determined effort to make sure the constituents of these cowardly Senators know what they have done.” --Brian Brown, President of NOM

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) today began making good on its pledge to spend at least $2 million leading to the defeat of the seven state Senators who were responsible for the imposition of same-sex marriage in New York. NOM announced today it was spending $150,000 on issue mailings into the districts of Republican Senators Mark Grisanti, Roy McDonald, James Alesi and Stephen Saland, and Democratic Senators Shirley Huntley, Joseph Addabbo and Carl Kruger.

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“This is the first step in what will be a sustained, determined effort to make sure the constituents of these cowardly Senators know what they have done,” said Brian Brown, NOM’s president. “They decided to ignore principle and their constituents in a calculated political flip-flop only after Governor Cuomo raised $1 million from Wall Street billionaires and hedge fund managers to support the legislation. Now, some of these same Senators are raising tens of thousands of dollars in campaign cash from gay marriage activists all around the country. It’s despicable.”

NOM’s mailers compare the senators to Benedict Arnold, another New Yorker from history who sold his principles for cash. Gen. Benedict Arnold received 6,000 British Pounds Sterling for plotting to surrender Fort West Point to the British.

The mailers also remind voters of key facts about the Senators. For example:

· Senator Mark Grisanti ran for office on a traditional marriage platform, and solicited and accepted a $4,000 campaign contribution from NOM.
· Senator James Alesi has said publicly, “It’s not our job to be moral.”
· Senator Carl Kruger, who is under indictment for allegedly taking $1 million in bribes in exchange for political favors, said of his vote, “What we are about to do is redefine what the American family is.”

“It is shameful that these state Senators flip-flopped on such a critical issue when they saw gay marriage backers raising millions from Wall Street,” Brown said. “It is the people on Main Street who should be able to vote on this issue, not billionaires on Wall Street. We will not rest until the people of New York have the right to vote on marriage just as voters in 31 other states have been able to do.”

NOM previously announced its support for “Let the People Vote,” a multi-denominational effort designed to put the marriage issue before voters in a constitutional amendment. NOM is helping organize four “Let the People Vote” rallies on July 24th, where thousands of traditional marriage supporters are expected to protest the imposition of same-sex marriage without a vote of the people.