Proposition 8 proponents and foes raise $60 million
Contributors on both sides are motivated by personal beliefs.
Sara Havranek quit working five years ago after the birth of her first child. Since then, she said, she and her husband have had to be frugal. "Every cent we spend is carefully considered."
But the Aliso Viejo couple consider Proposition 8 so important that they have donated $1,100 to support the initiative to ban same-sex marriage.
"Our faith is completely centered around the family. We believe the family is a divine institution," Havranek said to explain the contribution.
Larry Maiman feels just as strongly that Proposition 8 is wrong for California.
"I'm a gay man who has been in a relationship for 19 years who got married [six] weeks ago," he said, "and we'd like to stay married."
The owner of Mani's on Fairfax, a bakery and restaurant, Maiman said the economic crisis has hurt his business. He felt an urgent need to help defeat a proposed constitutional amendment he sees as limiting civil rights. He and his partner, Michael Browning, have given about $500 to fight it.
The campaigns for and against Proposition 8 have raised nearly $60 million so far, making the ballot measure campaign the most costly in the country this year. And contributions have dwarfed those of previous same-sex marriage initiatives. Between 2004 and 2006, 22 such measures were on ballots around the country, and donations to all of them combined totaled $31.4 million, according to the nonpartisan National Institute on Money in State Politics.
"All the battles that have taken place really have been building up to this," said Edwin Bender, director the institute, based in Helena, Mont. "This is a defining moment."
As of Friday, supporters of Proposition 8 had raised $27.5 million, with about 19% of the money coming from outside California. Opponents have raised $31.2 million, with 34% of the money coming from outside the state.
Although many initiatives are largely funded by parties with an economic interest in them, Proposition 8 contributors by and large have nothing to gain financially from the measure's passage or defeat.
Many donors, like Havranek, cite religious beliefs, and Mormons have emerged as the largest source of money to the Yes-on-8 effort, contributing about 40% of its war chest, according to the campaign. Church leaders have urged members to contribute.
Primary contributors to the opposition have included celebrities, liberal groups including the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California, public employee unions and gay philanthropists.
