SACRAMENTO � Opponents of same-sex marriage have abandoned their campaign to recall a Sacramento County Superior Court judge who upheld a controversial gay-rights law. The drive against Judge Loren McMaster had been closely watched, coming as it did at the height of ideological fights in the courts and Legislature over same-sex marriage.
The state's attorney general, judges from across the country and gay-rights advocates had rallied behind the jurist, saying removing him would send an ominous message.
Sacramento County social conservatives launched the recall in late December, angered by McMaster's ruling three months earlier that upheld the state's domestic partners law granting same-sex couples many of the rights and responsibilities of marriage.
The state Supreme Court unanimously agreed with McMaster in a June 29 ruling.
"That took the wind out of our sails," recall leader Tony Andrade said in a phone message announcing the campaign had folded.
Details here from the San Diego Union-Tribune.