Four GOP presidential hopefuls sign traditional-marriage pledge

Less than a quarter of the 2016 GOP presidential field has signed a conservative group’s pledge to stand up for traditional marriage by supporting a federal constitutional amendment that defends marriage as being between one man and one woman.

The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) said that four of the 17 Republicans running for the White House — Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, Ben Carson, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal — have signed the pledge, earning them the title of “Marriage Champions.”

In signing the pledge, the candidates are committing to, among other things, supporting a federal constitutional amendment, overturning the Supreme Court’s recent ruling in favor of same-sex marriage, and backing legislation that “recognizes the right of organizations and individuals to act in the public square consistent with their belief that marriage is the union of one man and one woman without fear of retaliation from the government.”

“While many of the GOP candidates talk the talk about supporting marriage, these four candidates have distinguished themselves as true champions, having pledged to the American people to take very specific actions to advance the cause of marriage,” NOM President Brian Brown said in a statement. “NOM is committed to educating people about the importance of electing a true marriage champion as President of the United States.”

NOM reached out to the entire slate of presidential candidates.

Mr. Brown warned that some of the other candidates that have promised to fight for traditional marriage — including former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker — could miss out on the group’s support by choosing not to sign their pledge.

“It’s unfortunate that some candidates have adopted a blanket position against signing pledges because it puts them at a tremendous disadvantage in seeking our support when there are strong candidates who have pledged to us and our supporters to take very specific and important actions as president,” Mr. Brown said.

“We are far past the point where we will simply rely on generalities and broad statements from a candidate; we need to know with specificity what actions they will take as president. As President Reagan once said, we must ’trust, but verify.’ Accordingly, we urge these candidates to reassess their stance and sign NOM’s pledge,” he said.