A sampling of Minnesota State Fair visitors revealed that most didn't want a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, but they would favor a change to prevent future government shutdowns.
Just over 66 percent of respondents said the state constitution should not be amended to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman. Just under 30 percent of the 12,549 respondents said they favor the change. All Minnesota voters will get their chance to vote on the change on the 2012 ballot.
About 69 percent of respondents said they believe that if the governor and legislators can't strike a budget deal, funding should continue and previous levels until they do. The state is still catching up after a record 20-day state government shutdown after DFL Gov. Mark Dayton and GOP legislators couldn't broker a deal by the end of June deadline.
More than 51 percent of those who took the survey support an expansion of gambling to shore up the state budget. Slightly more than 40 percent oppose the idea.
The informal survey was conducted by nonpartisan House public information services.
