To my constituents:

I'm sorry if you've tried to reach my office the past few days and have been unable to get through. Our phone lines have been locked up with calls from around the country as the result of an orchestrated campaign by national special-interest organizations trying to intimidate lawmakers like myself who plan to vote for marriage equality.

I regret that these tactics have prevented my actual constituents from being able to reach me with legitimate concerns, including that of marriage equality. As I announced a few weeks ago, I’ve welcomed your views to better understand where our district stands, and I want to continue to hear your thoughts — on this and on any other issue of concern to you.

However, I have no respect for the tactics of these national special-interest groups, who have no stake in our district or our state, and who have recruited out-of-state callers to phone my office and to be intentionally rude to my staff. My focus has always been, and remains, the people of the 10th District.

Please bear with us until these out-of-state entities lose interest and return to the issues in their own states. I expect our lines to free up soon. And in the meantime, thank you for your legitimate interest on behalf of our district.

— Mary Margaret