U.S. Rep. Kenny Hulshof, a Republican running for governor, sought Monday to burnish his anti-gay-marriage credentials by attempting to tie the likely Democratic nominee, Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon, to the recent California court case legalizing such unions.

Hulshof echoed Saturday’s complaint by Gov. Matt Blunt, a fellow Republican,  that Nixon ought to be fighting the California ruling.

Missouri’s state constitution bans gay marriage. Twenty-six other states have similar bans.

Like Blunt, Hulshof noted that 10 Republican attorneys general in other states that have such bans ”are asking the California Supreme Court to delay finalizing its ruling to legalize same-sex marriage, because of its national implications.”

“Missouri has a similar ban, but our attorney general has yet to join the list of those calling for a stay,” Hulshof said in a release.

“…Why wait? Failure to act could harm the efforts of those trying to delay the impact of this harmful decision.”

At the state GOP convention Saturday, state Treasurer Sarah Steelman pointed out that she had been the chief Senate sponsor of the anti-gay marriage measure that made it on the 2004 ballot.

UPDATE

 Here’s Nixon’s reply, from spokesman Oren Shur. Because of technical problems, wasn’t able to add it overnight:

“Jay has always believed marriage is between a man and a woman, and as
Attorney General he’s fought to protect traditional marriage.  He’ll take a
look at the letter and continue to do everything necessary to protect
marriage in Missouri. 

“But Jay’s focus in this campaign is on finding real
solutions to the core challenges that Missouri families face during these
difficult economic times.  Many Missouri families don’t know how they’re
going to pay next month’s bills, so let’s keep our eye on the ball.”