Poll: Background checks vote could improve Dems’ 2014 chances

Thu, 02 May 2013 18:43:00 +0000

A new survey from the Democratic-leaning Public Policy Polling finds that Sen. Kay Hagan of North Carolina and Sen Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, both Democrats and both vulnerable in their 2014 reelection campaigns, could get a boost from their support for gun background checks.

Forty-five percent of voters in Louisiana say they're more likely to support Landrieu following the vote, compared to 25 percent who said they're less likely to support her. For Kay Hagan, 52 percent said they were more likely to support her, compared to 26 percent who said they were less likely.

Conversely, the poll shows, Hagan and Landrieu's Republican colleagues aren't doing as well:

Mark Pryor: I still oppose gay marriage

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 20:28:00 +0000

Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., is just one of three Democrats left in the Senate who has not officially come out in support of gay marriage, and on Tuesday he reiterated that he is still opposed to it.

"No, I'm opposed to gay marriage and have been," he told reporters.

On Saturday, Pryor said he might be open to extending benefits to same sex couples, depending on how the Supreme Court rules in the DOMA case. "On the benefits issue, I said to ‘put me down in the undecided category,’" Pryor told KFSM News. "By that I meant that, depending on what the U.S. Supreme Court decides, I will evaluate whether federal benefits should be available to gay couples. Of course, I will consider the impact any extension of benefits would have on the federal budget.”

The other two remaining Democrats who have not expressly said that they support marriage equality are Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W. Va., and Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La.

Salon.com > Mary Landrieu

Poll: Background checks vote could improve Dems’ 2014 chances

Mark Pryor: I still oppose gay marriage