GOP gubernatorial candidate backs down from marriage promise

Republican gubernatorial candidate Tommy Ahlquist has removed language from his campaign website promising to fight to protect Idaho’s right to define marriage.

Ahlquist is the only gubernatorial site to include a resolution to protect the “sanctity of marriage.”

The Boise businessman demurred in June when asked by The Associated Press what policies he would support that would uphold the Idaho Constitution’s unenforceable and illegal definition of marriage as being between a man and a woman. Ahlquist then told reporters during an interview on a podcast last week that it was possibly time to change that promise.

Campaign manager David Johnston confirmed the change Wednesday.

Ahlquist’s updated campaign website still says he believes marriage should be between a man and a woman, but no longer promises to fight to uphold that definition.

The U.S. Supreme Court overruled Idaho’s same-sex marriage ban in 2015.