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WASHINGTON, D.C., July 2, 2015 (LifeSiteNews) – Five days after the U.S. Supreme Court's 5-4 decision mandating the redefinition of marriage to include same-sex couples, most of the 2016 presidential candidates have made their opinions on the issue known.

While all of the Democrats currently in the race aggressively supported the ruling, the Republicans' reactions to the Supreme Court's marriage ruling have been more varied.

Wisconsin governor Scott Walker, who is expected to announce his candidacy soon, criticized the Obergefell decision, calling it “a grave mistake.” Walker suggested that “the only alternative” to Friday's decision is “to support an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to reaffirm the ability of the states to continue to define marriage.”

Texas senator Ted Cruz has doubled down on Walker's call for a constitutional amendment. Not only is Cruz seeking an amendment to protect states' right to define marriage, but he also hopes to amend the Constitution to demand “periodic judicial retention elections” for Supreme Court justices – namely, Cruz said, for those who “overstep their bounds [and] violate the Constitution.”

Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush shied away from a constitutional marriage amendment. “Guided by my faith,” Bush said in a statement, “I believe in traditional marriage.” However, “in a country as diverse as ours, good people who have opposing views should be able to live side by side. It is now crucial that as a country we protect religious freedom and the right of conscience and also not discriminate.”

Florida senator Marco Rubio agreed with Bush, exhorting Republicans to “look ahead” and concentrate on the nomination process for new judges. Likewise with Ohio governor John Kasich, who said on Face the Nation that “it's time to move on” and “take a deep breath.”

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Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina concurred. While “I do not agree that the Court can or should redefine marriage,” Fiorina said, “[m]oving forward…all of our effort should be focused on protecting the religious liberties and freedom of conscience.”

South Carolina Senator Lindsay Graham forthrightly condemned a constitutional marriage amendment as “a divisive effort that would be doomed to fail.” Graham told NBC News, “I would not engage in the Constitutional amendment process as a party going into 2016. Accept the Court's ruling. Fight for the religious liberties of every American.”

Libertarian-leaning Kentucky Senator Rand Paul wrote in Time Magazine that the federal government should remove itself completely from the marriage issue. “Our founding fathers went to the local courthouse to be married, not Washington, D.C.,” Paul wrote.

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal “strongly disagree[s]” with the Obergefell ruling, but he admitted on Sunday that his state would ultimately comply with the Supreme Court's decision. “We do not have a choice.”

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie went one step farther. While he “agree[s] with Chief Justice John Roberts” that “this is something that should be decided by the people, and not … five lawyers,” the governor admitted that “those five lawyers get to impose it under our system, and so our job is going to be to support the law of the land[.]”

Former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum foresees a widespread silencing of those who dissent from the Supreme Court's interpretation of marriage. “There's no slippery slope here,” Santorum told the Family Research Council Friday; “religious liberty is under assault today – not going to be, it is – and it's going to be even more so … with this decision.”

Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee expressed similar sentiments, excoriating the Supreme Court for flouting millions of Americans who voted to affirm “the laws of nature.” Huckabee said on Friday, “I will not acquiesce to an imperial court any more than our Founders acquiesced to an imperial British monarch. We must resist and reject judicial tyranny, not retreat.”

On the other end of the spectrum, former Democratic Maryland governor and Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley contended that it is homosexuals, not religious objectors to the Obergefell decision, who need more protections from the state.

Calling the ruling a “major step forward,” O'Malley proceeded to demand passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), a bill that criminalizes “discrimination” based on an “individual's actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity.” Opponents worry it would force religious employers to hire homosexuals and transgender people.

Passing ENDA, O'Malley said, would help “more fully realize the vision of an open, respectful, and inclusive nation that Friday's decision aspires us [sic] to be.”