New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said the Democratic-controlled Legislature’s push to pass a gay-marriage bill is “good theater,” and he renewed his pledge to veto the measure.
Christie, a first-term Republican, said he doesn’t anticipate there will be enough votes to override his veto.
Christie, speaking to reporters today in Trenton, renewed his pledge to veto the gay-marriage bill, a day after it passed the Senate, 24-16. Assemblyman Reed Gusciora, a gay Democrat from Trenton who is sponsoring the bill in the lower house, said he expects it to be approved on Thursday.
Regarding the potential veto override, Democrats control the Senate, 24-16, and the Assembly, 48-32. They would need a two-thirds majority, or 27 members in the Senate and 54 in the Assembly, to override a veto.
“They won’t get enough votes to override it, they know that and I know that, and yesterday was a good bunch of theater, but that was all it was,” Christie said. “They know it’s not going to happen.”
Christie has said voters should decide the issue in a referendum and that he would abide by the results, even though he personally opposes the practice. Democrats have called gay marriage a civil right that shouldn’t be subjected to a popular vote.
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