Even if Proposition 8 is upheld, the court could rule that existing same-sex marriages remain valid. Legal scholars say gay rights lawyers have more ammunition for preserving the marriages than for overturning the ban.
According to final fundraising reports filed this week, both sides in the battle over the ballot measure together raised $83 million -- the most ever for an electoral fight over a social issue in California.
The final tallies for money spent through Dec. 31 show that opponents of the measure raised $44,103,525, while supporters took in $38,766,260.
Supporters of the proposition went to court to ask that no more names and addresses of donors to their campaign be made public because they said some contributors were being harassed and threatened. A federal judge disagreed and made the filings public.
The most recent reports showed that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints donated more than $180,000 in in-kind contributions to the campaign for Proposition 8.
The contributions included tens of thousands of dollars for expenses such as airline tickets, hotels, restaurants and rental cars for top church officials, including L. Whitney Clayton, a church elder.
The church also reported $96,849.31 in contributions consisting of "compensated staff time" for church employees.
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maura.dolan@latimes.com
jessica.garrison@latimes.com
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Times researcher Maloy Moore contributed to this report.
