WASHINGTON -- There's been a lot of speculation that Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) may be the next senator to announce her support for gay marriage. As of Tuesday, her position had not changed.
"My view is the same that it's always been," Collins told The Huffington Post. "I think this is a matter of state law."
Collins, a moderate Republican up for reelection in 2014, said states have traditionally handled family law and should continue to do so. She noted that she voted twice, in 2004 and in 2006, against federal constitutional amendments to ban gay marriage because, "I believe it should be left up to the states."
She declined to elaborate on her own personal views about gay marriage, instead reiterating that the matter should be left up to states to decide.
Sens. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio) are the only sitting Republican senators who have publicly endorsed the issue. Former Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), Collins' longtime colleague, announced Friday that she supports gay marriage, despite a long history of staying quiet on her position while in office.
Senate Democrats, meanwhile, are lining up to announce their support on the issue ahead of the Supreme Court's ruling on the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act.
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