Sen. Johnson: Supporting Gay Marriage Won’t Hurt Candidates In South Dakota

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A day after he became the latest Democrat to embrace marriage equality, Sen. Tim Johnson (D-SD) on Tuesday denied that he only endorsed gay nuptials because he isn’t seeking re-election next year and predicted that taking such a position won’t hurt candidates in his conservative home state of South Dakota.

Johnson told the Argus Leader of Sioux Falls, S.D. that he didn’t have a “lightbulb” moment that triggered the change in position, but that his own evolution was a “long process.”

“It was a long process of thinking it through,” Johnson said. “Like the president and the other (53) senators, I came to the conclusion slowly and carefully.”

In his statement announcing his endorsement of same-sex marriage, Johnson emphasized that his position “doesn’t require any religious denomination to alter any of its tenets.” He elaborated on that point in the interview with the Argus Leader.

“Each religious entity can maintain their support or opposition to same-sex marriage,” Johnson said. “It made no sense to me that marriage necessarily should have a religious quality to it.”

Johnson insisted that he didn’t deliberately hold off on the announcement until after he decided on retirement, saying the recent Supreme Court cases on gay rights helped “accelerate the consideration” of his position.

“It was a timely opportunity to express our views on this particular issue,” Johnson said. He also contended that adopting his newfound position would “not at all” hurt a candidate for public office in South Dakota, a state with its own constitutional ban on gay marriage.

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