J.D. Greear, lead pastor of the Summit Church in Raleigh-Durham, N.C., a Southern Baptist congregation, urged the church’s members to support the amendment. “Government did not define or establish marriage. God did. Government merely recognized that which has been established by the Creator.”

North Carolina voters have made the state the 30th in the U.S. to define marriage within a constitution as between a man and a woman, passing a proposal that had drawn nationwide attention by a margin even larger than pre-election surveys.

With all counties reported, the amendment passed easily Tuesday (May 8), 61-39 percent.

Critics said the North Carolina amendment was unnecessary because the state already defines marriage in the traditional sense, but supporters countered that North Carolina needed such an amendment to prevent a state court from legalizing gay “marriage,” as happened in Massachusetts, Iowa and Connecticut. Judges can overturn statutes but not constitutional amendments.

The amendment passed despite supporters being outspent on ads by a margin of about 2-to-1, and despite opponents running TV ads claiming the amendment would negatively impact health insurance for children and the state’s domestic violence laws. Opponents avoided the issue of gay “marriage” altogether.

If the debate had focused solely on marriage’s definition, the winning percentage might have approached or surpassed 70 percent.

“This not only sends … a message to North Carolina, but this sends a message to the whole country,” Mark Creech, executive director of the Christian Action League of North Carolina, told the Biblical Recorder newspaper. “And that is what people of this country want to see — marriage remain as one man and one woman.”

It wasn’t the only loss of the night for national gay groups. In Colorado Tuesday, the GOP-led House recessed without considering a same-sex civil unions bill, killing it for the session. Some observers thought it had the votes to pass.

The North Carolina vote was only the beginning of what will be a busy year nationally for supporters and opponents of gay “marriage.” In November, Minnesotans will vote on a marriage amendment and Maine citizens will consider a proposal that would legalize gay “marriage.” Additionally, voters in Washington state and Maryland likely will consider proposals that would reverse gay “marriage” laws in those states.

Some polls have shown national support for gay “marriage,” but — in light of the North Carolina vote margin — many conservative leaders and even some pollsters aren’t buying it.

After watching the North Carolina results Tuesday night, Tom Jensen of the left-leaning Public Policy Polling sent out a tweet, saying, “Hate to say it but I don’t believe polls showing majority support for gay marriage nationally. Any time there’s a vote it doesn’t back it up.”

The final pre-election poll from Public Policy Polling had the amendment up among likely voters, 57-39 percent. Historically, marriage amendments have outperformed surveys.

The coalition formed to promote the amendment, Vote For Marriage NC, didn’t shy away from religion in urging voters to support it. One ad ended with an image of a Bible as a narrator explained that the amendment “protects marriage as the union of one man and one woman, just as God designed it.”

In the heart of the Bible Belt, the ad resonated. Having Billy Graham support the amendment in 14 newspaper ads the weekend before election day helped, too.

[Editor’s note: This article is incomplete. The source for this document was originally published on Baptist Press—however, the original URL is no longer available.]