(CNN) — A carefully worded statement from Liz Cheney Friday explained the Wyoming Senate candidate wasn’t supportive of same-sex marriage, despite having a sister who married her longtime partner in Washington, D.C., last year.
“I am strongly pro-life and I am not pro-gay marriage,” Cheney wrote. “I believe the issue of marriage must be decided by the states, and by the people in the states, not by judges and not even by legislators, but by the people themselves.”
The statement, Cheney’s campaign said, was in response to reports a “push poll” in Wyoming was asking voters if they were aware Cheney “supports abortion and aggressively promotes gay marriage.”
“The people of Wyoming deserve an honest campaign,” Cheney said. “They should not be subject to the kind of dirty tricks this push poll represents.”
Cheney, who chairs a nonprofit on national security and education called Keep America Safe, is challenging Wyoming Republican Sen. Mike Enzi for his seat.
She’s a daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney. In 2009, her sister, Mary, wed longtime partner Heather Poe in Washington, D.C., which legalized same-sex marriage in 2009. The pair has two children together – a son Samuel, and a daughter Sarah.
Mary Cheney’s sexual orientation was known during her father’s first run, in 2000, for vice president, though her family generally declined to discuss her personal life on the campaign trail.
Dick Cheney has said in the past that gays and lesbians should be allowed to marry, though like his daughter Liz he says regulations should be handled at the state level.
The-CNN-Wire
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