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Thursday, Jan 3, 2013 5:38 PM UTC

NOM pledges to target Illinois GOPers who back gay marriage

The threat came shortly after the state Republican Party chairman said he would support it

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Topics: Illinois, Gay Marriage, National Organization for Marriage, Pat Brady, Republican Party,

NOM pledges to target Illinois GOPers who back gay marriage (Credit: ChameleonsEye / Shutterstock.com)

As Illinois gears up for a vote over whether to legalize same-sex marriages, the National Organization for Marriage says it will target any Republicans who support the legislation.

In a statement Thursday, NOM said it will form a PAC in Illinois and spend $250,000 to oust any Republicans who support gay marriage. The statement also called on Illinois Republican Chairman Pat Brady to resign “for violating the national GOP platform and urging state Republicans to redefine marriage.”

“Any Republican in Illinois who betrays the cause of marriage will be casting a career-ending vote and will be held accountable to their constituents,” Brian Brown, NOM’s president, said in a statement. “We will spend whatever it takes – hundreds of thousands of dollars if necessary – to remove them from office, just as we did three of the four turncoat Republican state Senators in New York who were responsible for gay ‘marriage’ passing there.”

Brady had said Wednesday that he is putting his “full support” behind marriage equality legislation in the state. ”Giving gay and lesbian couples the freedom to get married honors the best conservative principles. It strengthens families and reinforces a key Republican value — that the law should treat all citizens equally,” he told the Chicago Sun-Times.

According to the Windy City Times, a vote could come as early as today:

Illinois Senators will no longer be voting on the Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act, a bill that LGBT leaders had been working for months to gain support on. Instead, the legalization of gay marriage had been added as a Senate amendment to HB4963, a bill that deals with automobile rentals and the Collateral Recovery Act, according to Equality Illinois CEO Bernard Cherkasov.

The move comes after Senate Democrats failed to secure enough votes to waive a 24-hour rule on the posting of the bill Wednesday night. That could have delayed a vote on marriage a day or more.

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Jillian Rayfield is an Assistant News Editor for Salon, focusing on politics. Follow her on Twitter at @jillrayfield or email her at jrayfield@salon.com. More Jillian Rayfield.

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