Republican governors in blue states

Earlier this year, a New York state court ruled in favor of marriage equality. (The case is currently awaiting appeal.) At the time:

Gov. Pataki blasted the ruling, saying that the courts should not be blazing new trails in state matrimonial law.

"New York's marriage laws are clear that marriage is between a man and a woman and any changes to our laws should be made through the legislative process, not by a judge or local officials," said Pataki spokesman Kevin Quinn.

Yesterday, the California legislature passed a marriage equality bill. Next step:

The measure now goes to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, who has supported domestic partnership legislation in the past but has not taken a public position on the marriage bill.

A spokeswoman for Mr. Schwarzenegger, Margita Thompson, said after the vote that the governor believed that the issue of same-sex marriage should be settled by the courts, not legislators, but she did not indicate whether that meant he would veto the legislation. The bill did not pass with enough votes to override a veto.

"The governor will uphold whatever the court decides," Ms. Thompson said.