Pro-Marriage Republican Announces Retirement

A New York Republican assemblywoman who voted for marriage equality announced Thursday that she will not seek reelection this November.

Assemblywoman Teresa Sayward, who said it was a family decision to step down from her position, has a gay son and says she is proud to have broken with her party to vote for marriage equality.

"Seeing marriage equality finally become law in New York State affirmed my faith in the more perfect union our forefathers sought and the pursuit of happiness that all Americans rightfully deserve," she said, according to the Times Union newspaper in Albany.

Sayward represents the North Country region of New York. While the state Assembly is Democratically controlled, the state Senate has a slight Republican majority. Two state senators, Mark Grisanti and Roy McDonald, have lost the backing of their local Conservative and Republican parties, respectively, because of their decisions to break with the Republican Party and vote for marriage equality.