Romney and Bachmann lead Iowa poll (Reuters)

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DES MOINES, Iowa (Reuters) – Republican front-runner Mitt Romney and U.S. Representative Michele Bachmann led a closely watched presidential poll of Iowa Republicans, the state that holds the first contest in the nomination battle.

The Iowa caucuses, often held on a frigid winter night that can limit turnout to those most committed, often serves to winnow the field of candidates.

Whoever captures the nomination in the unsettled Republican field is expected to challenge Democratic President Barack Obama in the November 2012 general election.

Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, led the poll of likely caucus-goers with 23 percent, followed by 22 percent support for Bachmann, who is from neighboring Minnesota and a favorite of fiscal conservatives and the Tea Party.

Businessman Herman Cain had 10 percent support in the poll, U.S. Representative Ron Paul of Texas and former U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Newt Gingrich followed with 7 percent. Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty had 6 percent while former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum got 4 percent and former U.S. envoy to China Jon Huntsman followed with 2 percent.

The Des Moines Register poll has in the past been an accurate barometer of support in the key state, and it often sets a benchmark for candidate momentum as the race takes shape. This is the first Iowa poll for the upcoming election.

The poll of 400 likely Republican caucus-goers by pollster Selzer & Co was conducted June 19 to 22 and had a margin of error of 4.9 percentage points.

In 2008, the poll correctly predicted wins for Republican former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, who got support from Iowa's strong contingent of social conservatives, and for then-U.S. Senator Obama. Obama went on to win the presidency over Republican nominee John McCain.

Romney has consistently been the early front-runner in national polls for the 2012 Republican nomination but he has said he would not participate in the informal Iowa straw poll held in August. He had a disappointing second-place finish in the 2008 Iowa caucuses despite pouring resources into the race.

Iowa's first-in-the nation caucuses are widely seen as vital to the presidential hopes of Bachmann and Pawlenty of nearby Iowa.

Bachmann was set to formally announce her candidacy on

Monday in Waterloo, Iowa, where she spent her early childhood.

Last weekend, Texas' Paul won a non-binding preference poll at a Republican conference in New Orleans. Huntsman joined the field last week but said he will not campaign in Iowa, betting on a good showing in New Hampshire's primary roughly a week later.

The Republican field may expand, with the intentions of former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and Texas Governor Rick Perry unknown.

(Reporting by Kay Henderson and Andrew Stern; Editing by Bill Trott)

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Illinois governor signs election law favoring Democrats (Reuters)

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CHICAGO (Reuters) – Illinois Democratic Governor Pat Quinn signed into law on Friday a new congressional district map that could reverse gains Republicans made in the state in 2010 midterm elections.

Democrats were able to leverage their control of the General Assembly and a Democratic governor to approve a new election map for 2012 that analysts said could help Democrats win at least three more congressional seats in the state.

The effects of the law, which Republicans or third-party interest groups may challenge in court, would be to pit strong Republicans against each other, extend Chicago Democratic incumbent districts into suburban Republican districts, and incorporate new voter blocs into Republican strongholds.

Quinn denied that the redistricting was a partisan ploy by Democrats.

"This map is fair, maintains competitiveness within congressional districts, and protects the voting rights of minority communities," Quinn said.

Illinois Republican Party Chairman Pat Brady differed.

"This bill is a crass, partisan political move to silence the voices of Illinoisans, who last November made it very clear that they wanted to fire Nancy Pelosi by electing a majority Republican Congressional Delegation from the home state of President Obama," Brady said.

The Illinois Republican Party's lawyers will review the maps to see if any state or federal laws have been broken, said Jonathan Blessing, a party spokesman.

In the 2010 midterm elections, Republicans picked up 60 House seats nationally, knocking Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi from power and putting Republicans in charge of House committees. It was the biggest shift in power in the House since Democrats gained 75 House seats in 1948.

But Democratic analysts believe Illinois and California, where Democrats are still in power at the state level, are their best chances to gain back seats in 2012 through redistricting.

Republicans in power in most of the Midwest and South are drawing maps in those states seeking to protect new Republican members of Congress elected in 2010.

In Illinois, Republicans picked up four seats in 2010 to hold an overall edge of 11 to 8 in the state's congressional delegation. They also kept control of the wealthy North Shore suburban Chicago district vacated by Republican Mark Kirk's successful Senate bid.

Illinois will lose one of its 19 congressional seats due to slow population growth relative to other states, according to the federal census.

Andy Shaw, President of the Better Government Association, said the Illinois map was partisan politics as usual.

"Most of Quinn's adult life was spent in opposition to this blatant political manipulation of the system," Shaw told Reuters. "His willingness to sign the bill without any changes is another indication that he has had to abandon many of his progressive principles to be able to deal with the political realities of Springfield (the state capital)," he said.

(Editing by Greg McCune)

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Republican Romney to tap ex-pat wealth in London (Reuters)

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BOSTON (Reuters) – Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney takes his fund-raising machine to London next month, holding a reception aimed at wealthy American expatriates working at banks and hedge funds.

A handful of London fund-raisers were held during the 2008 presidential election cycle, but Romney's event, scheduled for July 6, will be the earliest ever of its kind.

The reception will be held at Dartmouth House, an opulent mansion in the heart of Mayfair that is often used for weddings and conferences.

The suggested contribution to the "Romney for President" campaign is $2,500, according to an invitation seen by Reuters. Under U.S. law, only American citizens and green card holders can contribute.

Romney is the front-runner for the Republican nomination to take on President Barack Obama in 2012, in part because of his campaign's huge war-chest. He also ran unsuccessfully for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008.

The former Massachusetts governor has held dozens of fund-raisers across the United States this year, including at least three in New York that were hosted by backers from the financial industry.

Co-chairs of the London event include billionaire hedge fund manager Louis Bacon, founder of Moore Capital Management; businessman Robert Wood "Woody" Johnson IV; and Dwight Poler, managing director for Europe at Bain Capital, the venture capital firm that Romney co-founded in 1984.

Overseas fund-raisers were unknown for U.S. candidates until former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, at that point among the top Republican candidates, broke the ice in September 2007.

John McCain, who eventually won the Republican nomination in 2008, also raised funds in London. And Obama raised a reported $400,000 at the London home of Elizabeth Murdoch, daughter of media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, in May 2008.

Romney campaign officials did not immediately comment on the candidate's plans while in London.

(Reporting by Ros Krasny; Editing by Paul Simao)

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New York's same-sex marriage law sets off waves of engagements (Reuters)

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在 ServiceModel 客户端配置部分中，找不到引用协定“TranslatorService.LanguageService”的默认终结点元素。这可能是因为未找到应用程序的配置文件，或者是因为客户端元素中找不到与此协定匹配的终结点元素。

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Waves of gay couples rushed on Saturday to make wedding plans that had been dreams for decades, as euphoria over New York's legalization of same-sex marriage promised to turn a traditional pride parade into an enormous roving engagement party.

In the minutes and hours after the law was passed and signed by Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo late on Friday, sparkling rings were offered and accepted and champagne corks flew to kick off wedding plans likely to add an estimated $284 million to the state's economy, according to a report by the Independent Democratic Conference.

The report estimated more than 21,000 gay and lesbian couples from New York would marry within the first three years and nearly 42,000 gay and lesbian couples from out of state would travel to New York for a "destination wedding."

"Peter, will you marry me?" asked Dan Gallagher, 46, who dropped down on one knee as he finished running through Central Park on Saturday with his partner of 14 years, Peter Shearer, an emergency medicine physician. Together they are raising a 4-year old son and thrilled to marry in their home state.

The decision to wait for a wedding in New York also was made by Walter Bridgham, 47, a manager at Macy's, and Argus Galindo, 46, a magazine subscription manager, who cheered the law's passage with a crowd outside New York City's Stonewall Inn, where a police raid in 1969 sparked the modern gay rights movement.

"It was emotional. He turned to me and we looked into each other's eyes and said, 'Yes.' We knew the question," said Bridgham.

They have been a couple for 20 years, and their ceremony is set for July 28 at New York's City Hall.

"It makes you feel like we're equal, that we can celebrate with friends in New York and not have it be, in some people's eyes, not recognized," said Tim Ford, 45, an actor engaged to marry his partner of 18 years, Michael Beltran, 44, an administrator for a law firm, in October.

"The wedding planning stress is already started," he said.

Before the ink dried on the newly signed law, they changed their Facebook status from domestic partnership to engaged, sparking a flurry of congratulations, Beltran said.

"We waited for this day for a long time. It's very emotional," he said, choking back tears.

Both men were raised Catholic and Beltran serves as a group song leader at weekly mass, but they will reluctantly not be married in the church, which fought the gay marriage bill.

"It doesn't bother me but it bothers Michael a little more," said Ford, who plans instead to be married by a friend who was ordained a minister.

Seemingly instantaneous engagements, actually planned for years but long awaiting the state's consent, were celebrated around the state, including in Albany where the proposed law was mired for days in a fight over religious exemptions.

"I feel like a first-class citizen, a first-class New Yorker, for the first time in my life," said Jim Reda of Brooklyn, outside the Senate chamber with his partner of eight years. "We will be married by the end of the year. I can't believe I'm actually saying that."

The most populous state to approve marriage equality legislation, New York is the sixth state to legalize gay nuptials, joining Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and the District of Columbia. Civil unions were approved in Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois and New Jersey. Same sex marriage is banned in 39 states.

The victory was expected to boost crowds at Sunday's NYC Pride March, according to Britton Hogge, media director for Heritage of Pride, which organizes the annual event.

"We expect an extra 500,000 to 1 million as a result of passage," said Hogge, noting the crowd estimate for the event from police is typically about 1.5 million people.

In the past, the event was considered less a parade and more a march in an ongoing demand for equal rights and respect. But this year's victory for same sex marriage and the tsunami of marriage proposals is expected to transform the event into a movable engagement party.

"It's definitely going to change the mood. This year for sure it's just going to be a huge celebration," said Hogge.

(Additional reporting by Dan Wiessner in Albany, and Chris Michaud and Phil Wahba in New York; Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst)

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