Today's (potential) losers: Republican State Sens. Joe Fain & Andy Hill

Earlier today, it looked like Republicans Fain (R-47) and Hill (R-45) were potential winners because they stood to benefit with a spike in contributions if they broke party ranks—as both are considering doing—and voted for the gay marriage bill. (The bill needs 25 votes and it's currently shy by about one or two, with some conservative Democrats thinking of voting no and only two of the 22 Republicans (so far) supporting it.

Four Republican state senators in New York who pushed the state's gay marriage bill over the top got a windfall in political contributions, according to the New York Times.

But no sooner than that news hit, this press release came across our desk from the National Organization for Marriage, a national anti-gay marriage lobbying group, pledging to spend $250,000 to beat any Republican who supports the bill in Washington State.

Olympia, WA — The National Organization for Marriage (NOM), the nation's leading pro-marriage organization, today announced that it will spend $250,000 to help fund primary challenges to any Republican legislator who crosses the party platform and votes in favor of same-sex marriage. NOM will also work with pro-marriage grassroots organizations to ensure that the people of Washington have the chance to vote on marriage in November 2012.

"It's fairly incredible that some legislators would try to legalize homosexual marriage so soon after giving same-sex couples all the rights and privileges of marriage through Domestic Partnerships. This effort proves that the question is not one of rights but preserving marriage as a child-focused institution that has served families since the dawn of time," stated Brian Brown, NOM's president. "We intend to hold every legislator accountable for his or her vote on marriage. Any Republican who votes to redefine marriage can count on funding of a primary challenge to them. All legislators need to know that the same-sex marriage lobby wants to destroy the institution of marriage, redefining not just marriage, but also 'husband,' 'wife,' 'mother,' and 'father.'"

NOM has helped mount successful election challenges to countless legislators who supported same-sex marriage in places like Minnesota, New Hampshire, Maine, California and New York. The group is particularly effective at ending the careers of Republican officials who abandon marriage. For example, NOM is responsible for defeating U.S. Senate candidates Bill Binnie in New Hampshire and Tom Campbell in California, as well as removing sitting state legislators in multiple states.

Today's Winner: Web Sites

A bill to clarify business and occupation tax rates for newspapers by creating a category for "local interest websites" so that newspapers with online versions don't have to pay separate rates for each medium, ends up lowering rates for web sites.

Bill sponsor Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon (D-34, W. Seattle, Burien) says web sites such as the West Seattle Blog in his district are currently classified as "other services and gambling" and pay B&O taxes at a rate seven times what newspapers pay. The bill, which is cosponsored by Fitzgibbon's 34th District colleagues, Sen. Sharon Nelson and Rep. Eileen Cody, will lower that rate.

Ha. That makes PubliCola a winner today too.