Afternoon Read: Poll Finds Dramatic Increase in Support of Same-Sex Marriage in Maryland

The latest polling on same-sex marriages shows a significant increase in support among African-American voters in Maryland following President Barack Obama’s public announcement in favor of same-sex marriages.

The poll was conducted on behalf of Marylanders for Marriage Equality.

According to Public Policy Polling, the referendum to uphold the state’s new law legalizing same-sex marriage in Maryland seems poised to pass with 57 percent of Maryland voters saying they are likely to vote for the new marriage law this fall. Only 37 percent opposed it.

This 20 percent margin represents a significant shift from an identical PPP poll conducted in March, when 52 percent of voters said they supported the law and 42 percent opposed it.

This shift can largely be attributed to a change in opinion among black voters, according to Tom Jensen, Director of Public Policy Polling. Previously, 56 percent said they would vote against the new law with only 39 percent planning to uphold it. Those numbers have now dramatically flipped, with 55 percent of African-Americans planning to vote for the law and only 36 percent opposed to it.

Those statistics reflect a nationwide trend. A recent ABC/Washington Post found 59 percent of African-Americans across the country support same-sex marriage.

Talking Points Memo wrote:

“An endorsement of same-sex marriage was long considered risky for President Obama because of the expected backlash from the African-American community. Few seemed to consider the alternative, which polling suggests is playing out instead: Rather than changing their minds about the president, some black voters are reconsidering gay marriage.”

* Here’s Mitt Romney’s latest ad being aired in swing states, including Virginia.

 * Vice President Joe Biden will headline a fundraising event for Virginia Senate hopeful Tim Kaine in McLean Thursday evening, according to The Washington Post.

* Two weeks before the Wisconsin gubernatorial recall, Gov. Bob McDonnell and Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli are trying to rally support for Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker.

McDonnell will appear with Walker at an event Tuesday, according to The Post, and Cuccinelli is asking his supporters to donate to Walker’s campaign because it is the “second most important election in America in 2012.’’

“June 5 will be a clash of political forces of titanic proportions that will affect how (and whether) others in politics will meaningfully take on our biggest challenges, all of which entail taming and reining in government,’’ Cuccinelli wrote.

Via The Post:

* Late in the 2010 D.C. mayoral campaign, Vincent Gray’s campaign was the largest donor to Sulaimon Brown’s campaign, according to Washington City Paper.

Of the $1,160 Brown raised from June 11, 2010, to Aug. 10, 2010, the Gray campaign contributed at least $660 of it.

Thomas Gore, Gray's campaign treasurer, pleaded guilty on Tuesday, admitting that he converted excessive or unattributed cash donations to Brown so that he could make attack statements against incumbent Adrian Fenty, Gray’s main competitor in the race.

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