SARATOGA, NEW YORK – The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) says it had “a pivotal role in helping to defeat” state Sen. Roy McDonald, a Republican who supports marriage equality, in the 43rd Senate District GOP primary.
“McDonald was defeated in the Republican primary by pro-marriage candidate Kathy Marchione,” said the group in a press release. It isn’t known yet how absentee ballots— which will be counted starting tomorrow—will affect the result.
Much of the debate in the race concerned social issues. McDonald, a two-term incumbent, is pro-choice and voted to legalize same-sex marriage in New York State. Marchione, who is pro-life, opposes marriage equality.
McDonald, 65, was one of the “New York Seven,” four Republicans and three Democrats who switched their votes in support of marriage equality during last year’s legislative battle over the issue. One of the Republicans from that group retired from the state Senate. Another has won his challenge, while the last remains in a tight primary race.
Marchione, the Saratoga County, New York clerk, led 6,797 to 6,663 votes on the machine count, according to unofficial results on Friday. Additional absentee ballots may yet come in, and will be counted if they are postmarked by September 12, and received by Thursday. About 1,000 absentee ballots are still to be counted, although experts note that these often follow the same pattern as the machine count.
