The National Organization for Marriage is pumping money into the campaign that opposes Maine's November ballot question seeking to legalize same-sex marriage.

The Washington, D.C.-based group transferred $250,000 Thursday to the Protect Marriage Maine political action committee, which is spearheading the campaign against the ballot initiative, said campaign manager Frank Schubert.

Schubert said the Maine election has national implications because the state could become the first where same-sex marriage is legalized in a popular vote.

"It is a critical race for the survival of the institution of marriage in this country," Schubert said. "It's a race that the entire nation is looking at and will have an impact far beyond the borders of Maine."

... Schubert said recent polling suggests that the race is close.

Opponents are confident the question will fail given that the opposition campaign has yet to kick into high gear and supporters of gay marriage have been working for a long time trying to persuade people to support gay marriage, he said.