Democrats Attack Steele Over Support From Conservative Group

Petitioning a bill out of committee is no ordinary event in Annapolis. It's an exceedingly rare procedural tactic. To do it, the Republicans needed the signatures of 47 House members. There are 43 Republicans in the House, so they needed to round up four Democrats.

The four who crossed party lines were Theodore J. Sophocleus and Joan Cadden , both of Anne Arundel, Rosetta C. Parker (Prince George's) and Kevin Kelly (Allegany). All signed near the bottom of the petition.

After they were exposed, only Parker disavowed the act of partisan disloyalty. She rose on the floor of the House on Friday to tell members she had no idea what she was signing. She said the person who approached her didn't explain what it was.

There was another surprise on the list. The second to last to sign was Del. Jean Cryor , the lone Republican from Montgomery County. Cryor said not to interpret her late signature as a sign of wavering.

"There's no big deal about that," she said. "I just hadn't been to an earlier meeting."

Cryor went on to explain that her signature on the petition was not a sign of support for the constitutional amendment but rather a show of support for allowing the debate to go forward.

"I made it very clear that I'd be voting against the bill, but I was willing to have the discussion," Cryor said. "The bill was too sweeping, too far-reaching, and it became an anti-rights bill as opposed to a pro-marriage bill."

And when the Republicans sought her support for a second procedural move to revive the bill, she switched sides and became the lone Republican to break ranks.

Staff writer Matthew Mosk contributed to this report.