Gay marriage, pot backed in historic votes

Altering the course of U.S. social policy, Maine and Maryland became the first states to approve same-sex marriage by popular vote, while Washington state and Colorado set up a showdown with federal authorities by legalizing recreational use of marijuana.

The outcomes for those ballot measures Tuesday were a milestone for persistent but often thwarted advocacy groups and activists who for decades have pressed the causes of gay rights and drug decriminalization.

"Today the State of Washington looked at 70 years of marijuana prohibition and said it's time for a new approach," said Alison Holcomb, manager of the campaign that won passage of Initiative 502 in Washington.

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat who opposed legalization, declared: "Federal law still says marijuana is an illegal drug, so don't break out the Cheetos or Goldfish too quickly."

The results in Maine and Maryland broke a 32-state streak, dating to 1998, in which gay marriage had been rebuffed by every state that voted on it. They will become the seventh and eighth states -- including New York -- to allow same-sex couples to marry.

Minnesota voters defeated a proposed constitutional amendment that would have banned same-sex marriage in the state.

Meanwhile, Republicans who had lofty ambitions for taking over governors' offices this year fell short in another one of their targeted states yesterday and clung to diminishing hope in another.

Democrat Steve Bullock was elected governor in Montana in a race that had been too close to call until returns from key counties were tallied. Washington state remained the only undecided governor's race, and Democrats there were in position to extend nearly three decades of control.

Republicans did pick up the governor's office in North Carolina, as expected, and defended the seats they already held.