U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood of Peoria sided with a majority of his Republicans colleagues in voting against a measure to codify same-sex and interracial marriages, while two of his GOP colleagues from Illinois, Rodney Davis and Adam Kinzinger, backed the bill.
The U.S. House voted 267-157 on Tuesday to support the measure that was intended as a preemptive move to uphold the legality of same-sex and interracial marriages in the face of a U.S. Supreme Court that recently struck down guaranteed access to abortion and whose senior conservative jurist, Clarence Thomas, suggested other legal precedents (specifically gay marriage and rights to contraception) should be revisited.
The Respect for Marriage Act would repeal the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act that defined marriage as between one man and one woman.
Davis and Kinzinger, whose stints in Congress will both end in January, were among 47 Republicans who voted for the measure. Davis lost in a GOP primary last month against fellow incumbent Mary Miller. Kinzinger announced he would not seek re-election after Illinois Democrats drew congressional maps that would have likely forced him into a primary against LaHood.
All 157 ‘no’ votes were from Republicans.
Miller, the southern Illinois representative who is expected to win reelection in November, was among the ‘no’ votes. Miller issued a statement after the vote in which she described the Respect for Marriage Act as part of a “radical leftwing agenda,” and said the bill “attacks the traditional family.”
LaHood, who has been in Congress since 2015, is running for reelection and faces no opposition in November. He did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
House Republican leaders did not try to whip votes for or against the bill, according to The Hill. The measure moves to the U.S. Senate.
According to NPR, the measure does not appear to have at least 10 Republican votes needed to reach the 60-vote minimum that would prevent a filibuster.
