The marriage issue

By The Gazette Editorial Board

Republican Terry Branstad is back as Iowa governor after a decisive victory. No surprise, as polls predicted his win for months. Congratulations on the impressive comeback. And thanks to outgoing Gov. Chet Culver who, despite political and budgetary stumbles along the way, also notched several major achievements and eventually led an effort that brought financial help to our flood-ravaged region.

The biggest shock wave of the statewide elections didn't involve political party candidates: Three Iowa Supreme Court justices lost their jobs. More than 54 percent of the voters didn't want them back.

In the Iowa Legislature, Republicans took back the House, while the Democrats hung on to the Senate.

What do these changes mean?

Certainly, they verify that the economy and job market, which Branstad and many Republican legislative candidates relentlessly vowed to improve, are top-of-mind worries for Iowans.

Sorting out the judicial retention impact is more difficult, and could add to Branstad's challenges when he takes office in January.

A lot of Iowans - more than 130,000 - who voted Tuesday did not weigh in on the justices, who were the target of an organized effort to remove them because they joined a unanimous ruling that the state's Defense of Marriage law was unconstitutional by not allowing legal same-sex civil marriage.

Why didn't all those voters bother to check “yes” or “no” on the justices? Did they not understand what was at stake?

We believe the outcome sends the wrong message about the judicial branch's primary responsibility: to independently and competently rule on whether a law is constitutional.

Yet we also suspect many of those half-million-plus Iowans who rejected the justices saw the retention vote as their way of striking back and demanding a say on traditional marriage. They were justifiably angry because state legislators failed to take the first step toward a marriage amendment initiative that many Iowans expected after the court's ruling last year.

The governor-elect has supported Iowans' right to vote on such a constitutional amendment. But, with so much of his campaign promises tied to economic and job issues, will it be a priority for this new administration and the new-look Legislature?

It could be difficult to ignore a half-million voters.