Senator Jon Tester said as he got to know the people in his Montana home, he could find fewer reasons to support a ban on gay marriage.

The state there imposed a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, and as a Democratic Senator Tester had been quietly supportive. But now, in the wake of the Supreme Court challenge of California’s gay marriage ban, Tester said he needed to come out in support of gay marriage.

“I think it’s just the people you run into, the people you meet, the goodness in people and the example they set,” Tester said this week after announcing his support of same-sex marriage. “And it just kind of takes away a lot of the stereotypes that were in my head and I got to a point where, you know, I asked myself as a policymaker, as a U.S. senator, is it right that I should be denying somebody the right of happiness? And it wasn’t and that’s why we made a decision.”

Tester was one of a number of Senators to come out in support of marriage equality, including Republican Rob Portman of Ohio.

Though a Democrat, Tester’s switch came as a bit of a surprise given the political leanings of his home state of Montana. But Tester said he didn’t like the idea of the government dictating who could get married and who could not.

“I really think that people’s right to happiness shouldn’t be dictated by some policymaker in Washington, D.C.,” he said. “I’ve come to know a lot of people that –- sexual orientation is such where they’re in love with people from the same sex, and I just don’t think it’s our role in the government to say no you can’t be married. They love one another just as much as my wife and I love one another or more. And I think it’s important that we give them that ability to be happy.”

Jon Tester had announced his support for gay marriage earlier in the week, writing on his Facebook page:

“Montanans believe in the right to make a good life for their families. How they define a family should be their business and their business alone. I’m proud to support marriage equality because no one should be able to tell a Montanan or any American who they can love and who they can marry. – JT”

Tester then added the red equality symbol that is spreading on Facebook to symbolize support of gay marriage.

Jon Tester’s flip seems to be part of a growing trend. Political analysts believe that opposition to gay marriage will continue to wane, and GOP strategist Karl Rove even said tat the Republican Party could field a candidate in 2016 who supports gay marriage.

Senator Jon Tester Explains Gay Marriage Flip is a post from: The Inquisitr

Senator Jon Tester has joined the growing number of senators speaking out in support of gay marriage.

The Montana Democrat previously had not been vocal on the issue of same-sex marriage, but in the midst of Supreme Court deliberations on California’s gay marriage ban, decided to make his feelings known.

Jon Tester wrote on his Facebook page:

“Montanans believe in the right to make a good life for their families. How they define a family should be their business and their business alone. I’m proud to support marriage equality because no one should be able to tell a Montanan or any American who they can love and who they can marry. – JT”

Tester then added the red equality symbol that has taken over Facebook to symbolize support of gay marriage.

Though a Democrat, Jon Tester’s endorsement of same-sex marriage could carry weight. He previously supported the right of states to make their own same-sex marriage laws, and on Tuesday supported gay marriage publicly for the first time.

Montana has its own gay marriage ban, passed in 2004 in the form of a constitutional amendment.

Jon Tester joins other politicians who have decided to speak out in support of gay marriage. Last week Ohio Senator Rob Portman, a Republican, said he could no longer deny same-sex couples the right to marry.

Portman told CNN:

“I’m announcing today a change of heart on an issue that a lot of people feel strongly about that has to do with gay couples’ opportunity to marry … I’ve come to the conclusion that for me, personally, I think this is something that we should allow people to do, to get married, and to have the joy and stability of marriage that I’ve had for over 26 years. That I want all of my children to have, including our son, who is gay.”

GOP strategist Karl Rove even said tat the Republican Party could field a candidate in 2016 who supports gay marriage.

Senator Jon Tester Endorses Gay Marriage is a post from: The Inquisitr

Politics can be brutal – at least in Montana. A U.S. Senate campaign showcased the ugly side of politics when a Democratic environmental activist hit a Republican candidate’s wife with a rolled up campaign sign, The Daily Caller reports. After a political debate at Buck’s T-4 restaurant in Big Sky, Montana between Republican senatorial challenger Denny Rehberg and Democratic incumbent Jon Tester two separate altercations took place where Democrats allegedly accosted members of the GOP and a journalist. Libertarian candidate Dan Cox also participated in the debate.

The Montana U.S. Senate debate focused primarily on the same topics as the the presidential election – jobs, health care and the economy. The debate was heated yet professional until the socializing with the candidates segment occurred. A Democrat supported allegedly entered into a physical altercation with GOP candidate’s Rehberg’s wife Jan, according to NBC Montana News.

A female Tester supporter in her late-thirties allegedly tried to push her way into the middle of a group which included Congressman Rehberg, his wife and daughter. After “exchanging words” with the group while Rehberg was taking questions from he media, the female Democrat allegedly “began hitting” Jan Rehberg with a rolled up cardboard Tester sign. Managing partner of the Buck T-4 David O’Conner threw the alleged offender out of the facility.

Earlier the same evening local Democratic supporter Rachel Vaughn, who had allegedly heckled Rehberg during the debate, “slapped” the wrist of a Watchdog.org journalist in an alleged attempt to knock his recording device from his hand. Dustin Hurst shared his audio recording of the altercation with the Daily Caller, noting he was not planning on pressing charges.

A Rasmussen poll taken the week of the debate notes that Rehberg is leading Tester 49 to 47 percent.

Democrats Gone Wild: GOP Candidate’s Wife and Journalist Attacked at Montana Senate Debate is a post from: The Inquisitr