[Update, March 29: And … it’s unanimous. Rep. Bill Faison’s spokesperson’s been in touch. Faison, too, is on board for civil unions. “If the [General Assembly] sends Governor Bill Faison legislation on civil unions, he will sign it,” Jeanne Bonds said.
[So that’s all three of the Democratic candidates for Governor in favor. Add the two Dem candidates for Lt. Governor, and it’s 5 for 5 for civil unions among the party’s serious candidates for the highest state offices.
[Which is, of course, a good reason NOT to amend the state constitution so as to make such a change in the law impossible.
[Two weeks ago, we had one of the five on the record for civil unions. (That was Linda Coleman). Now, all five are. S’good.]
What follows is the original post from yesterday afternoon —
Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton’s spokesman and I just exchanged notes and talked by phone. Dalton does support civil unions, Pearse Edwards said. In the Democratic primary for governor, that makes it 2 out of 3 candidates who are for changing the law in North Carolina to allow for civil unions — a middle-ground position between the current law, which allows neither same-sex marriages nor civil unions, and allowing same-sex couples to be married the same as straights.
Dalton and former Congressman Bob Etheridge have now come out in favor of civil unions. Rep. Bill Faison, the third Democratic gubernatorial candidate, has not.
Edwards, by the way, said Dalton’s position is not new. Somehow, between my asking the question last week and the campaign answering it, something got lost in translation. The Etheridge campaign seized on my question to say, yes, Bob Etheridge does support civil unions. The Dalton campaign didn’t, but now it has.
And as I reported earlier, both Democratic candidates for lieutenant governor are in favor of civil unions, too. They are state Sen. Eric Mansfield and former state Rep. Linda Coleman.
The reason this question is important is that Amendment One, if the voters pass it on May 8, would add to the state constitution language prohibiting not just same-sex marriages but also civil unions.
