AUGUSTA, Maine (BP)--If supporters of traditional marriage had their druthers, conservative writer Maggie Gallagher says, they would have picked South Carolina, and not Maine, to try and win on the issue of "gay marriage" Nov. 3.

After all, Maine is one of the country's most liberal, least religious states, and hasn't voted for a Republican for president in more than 20 years. Add a nearly 2-to-1 fundraising deficit to that mix -- as well as a host of other obstacles -- and opponents of "gay marriage" faced seemingly impossible odds in trying to pass Question 1 and overturn Maine's recently passed law redefining marriage.

But they did win Tuesday, and by an even larger margin (53-47 percent) than in California (52-48 percent) one year earlier. In doing so, they put a roadblock in the notion that "gay marriage" in all 50 states is inevitable. The issue has now lost at the ballot box in all 31 states where it has been put to a vote.

Homosexual groups did pick up a win in Washington state when voters there approved the state's "everything but marriage" same-sex domestic partnerships law, but activists long ago said such laws were inadequate and that "gay marriage" was the only just option. Their goal now is to legalize "gay marriage" in that state.

"If they can't win in Maine, they don't have a majority anywhere," Gallagher, president of the National Organization for Marriage, which donated more than $1 million to the Yes on 1 campaign, told Baptist Press.

"And it's not just Maine. It's Maine and California and Wisconsin and Oregon and Michigan and every other state," she added, referencing other locations where "gay marriage" was defeated.

Question 1 passed despite a higher-than-expected turnout, which may have been as high as 60 percent and which pundits had presumed would hurt the Yes on 1 side. Conventional wisdom also held that two anti-tax issues on the ballot would help Question 1 by bringing out conservative voters. Yet both anti-tax measures lost -- by margins of 74-25 and 60-40 percent -- and Question 1 prevailed. A pro-medical marijuana initiative that likely brought out liberal voters passed, 59-41 percent.

The No on 1 side had not only a fundraising advantage but an edge in volunteers, too, with 8,000 people on the ground in a state with only 1.3 million people. They had the support of the governor, legislative leaders and newspaper editorial boards. They ran the campaign they wish they had run in California, and they still lost.

So, how did Stand for Marriage Maine, the primary organization promoting Question 1, win? Those who were involved on the ground point to five primary reasons:

-- A winning message about the impact of legalizing "gay marriage."