A vote for gay and lesbian rights doesn't seem to be a vote that constituents hold against state lawmakers, according to a report by two gay rights advocacy groups.

Some 94 percent of 640 state legislators nationwide who voted against same-sex marriage bans last year won re-election, according to the report released recently by the Human Rights Campaign and Equality Federation.

The report looked at 22 states, including Utah, where lawmakers who were up for re-election considered bills, constitutional amendments or resolutions dealing with same-sex marriage.

In Utah, and the 10 other states in which lawmakers approved a state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, voters also approved the bans.

Carrie Evans, state legislative lawyer for the Human Rights Campaign, said anecdotal evidence found that a vote against a same-sex marriage ban was cited as a factor in only 11, or 1.7 percent, of election losses.

When re-election rates for all incumbent lawmakers nationwide were last tracked in 1994, the National Conference of State Legislatures found that 90 percent of state House incumbents and 92 percent of Senate incumbents kept their seats, the study said.

That re-election rate was likely lower than usual because of dissatisfaction among voters, said Ron Hrebenar, political science department chairman at the University of Utah. Hrebenar noted 1994 was the year Republicans took control of the U.S. Congress.

"In a safe district you're not going to get knocked off because of that (same-sex marriage) vote," Hrebenar said.

Evans said the study was conducted to give lawmakers "concrete data to say, 'you can vote with us.'

"I think it demonstrates voters are more nuanced then a lot of us give them credit for," she said. "They're not one-issue voters."

Hrebenar said that political strategy makes sense, "particularly since every one of the initiatives or referendums won.

"(Legislators) could see this as a landslide, there's no way you can vote against this and survive. This group is saying, 'yes, you can.' "

In Utah, Sen. James Evans, R-Salt Lake, was the only legislator who voted against Amendment 3 and lost his seat, Carrie Evans said. The study found that Evans' vote against the state constitutional ban on same-sex marriage wasn't a factor in his campaign, because he lost to a progressive Democrat, Fred Fife.

The study could be used to encourage lawmakers to "stand up for equality" in Utah, said Michael Mitchell, director of Equality Utah.

However, Mitchell added: "Utah is the reddest of the red states. . . . It will continue to be an uphill battle for us."

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E-mail: dbulkeley@desnews.com