Everyone will get what he wants in New Jersey when it comes to gay marriage, except the gay people who want to get married. The New Jersey state assembly has passed a bill allowing gay marriage, but Gov. Chris Christie has already said he would veto it. That means Democrats get to show their support of the issue, while Christie gets to maintain his chances to be the Republican vice presidential nominee.

The vote was 41 to 33, Reuters reports, and follows the state senate's passage of the bill earlier this week. Christie has promised "very swift action" to kill the measure so lawmakers can "move on." Christie says he'd prefer gay marriage be approved or shot down through ballot referendum, which, The Atlantic Wire's Eric Randall points out, "would allow him to maintain his stated opposition to it... without having to actually prevent it from existing."

Want to add to this story? Let us know in comments or send an email to the author at ereeve at nationaljournal dot com. You can share ideas for stories on the Open Wire.
Elspeth Reeve