Wash. Marriage Campaign Reserves $5 Million for TV

Washington United for Marriage, the campaign working to uphold the marriage equality law passed this year, has reserved $5 million in TV time for ads beginning next month.

Campaign spokesman Zach Silk said the group had reserved the time for "sometime after Labor Day," though he declined to specify when the ads would start or how long they would last, the Associated Press reported.

"We've always believed that we had to have a direct conversation with voters about the issue and this is the beginning of that dialogue," Silk said. "We're excited to begin this next phase of the campaign."

Governor Christine Gregoire signed the marriage equality law in February, but the law was put on hold pending the outcome of the referendum opponents placed on the ballot. A yes vote for Referendum 74 will uphold the new law.

Washington United for Marriage has raised more than $6 million, according to the AP, an amount that includes $2.5 million from Amazon.com founder and CEO Jeff Bezos and his wife MacKenzie. Their donation is believed to be the largest ever such gift to a marriage equality campaign.

By comparison, opponents of the new law have raised over $471,000, but the Preserve Marriage campaign predicts it will raise around $4 million total. The campaign is also expected to run television ads.