Even after the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) poured nearly $90,000 into his campaign, Republican candidate Stephen Burgmeier still managed to lose in a close race to Democrat Curt Hanson in a special election for an Iowa house seat yesterday.

Democratic candidate Curt Hanson, a retired schoolteacher, won against GOP candidate and Jefferson County Supervisor Stephen Burgmeier by 3,932 to 3,825 votes, according to unofficial tallies.

“We predicted it would be a close race and it was,” Hanson said of his 107-vote victory. “I think what surprised me was the total state attention and, perhaps, even national.”

Republicans acknowledge the loss was unsettling, but said the closeness of the race means that their future is bright and that they will gain ground in next year’s House, Senate and gubernatorial races.

Too bad for NOM. Now they have less money to launder up in Maine… The hits just keep on coming.

At 12:01 AM Eastern Standard Time, Bob Sullivan and Bill Slimback became the first same-sex couple to exchange their vows as gay marriage became legal in Vermont.

Dressed in suits, saying their vows under a large wall-mounted moose head, the two Whitehall, N.Y., men promised their love, exchanged rings and held hands during a modest 17-minute ceremony. Moose Meadow Lodge co-owner Greg Trulson, who’s also a Justice of the Peace, presided.

“It feels wonderful,” said Slimback, 38, an out-of-work Teamster who is taking Sullivan’s last name as his own. “It’s a day I’ve been long waiting for, and a day I truly honestly thought would never come.”

Slimback said he and Sullivan, 41, have long wanted to cement their relationship with a wedding, but since they couldn’t legally marry in New York they chose to wed even before Vermont’s gay marriage era officially dawned.

Vermont is one of five states that now allow same-sex couples to marry. Massachusetts, Connecticut and Iowa are the others. New Hampshire’s law takes effect Jan. 1, 2010.

Vermont, which invented civil unions in 2000 after a same-sex couple challenged the inequality of state marriage statutes, was a mecca for gay couples who to that point had no way to officially recognize their relationships.

Since then, other states have allowed gay marriage, as did Vermont, which in April became the first state to legalize gay marriage through a legislative decree and not a court case.

Coverage from the local Fox affiliate below:

As of midnight last night, gay marriages performed in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Iowa, and for a brief time in California, will be legally recognized in the District of Columbia.

Gay activists hailed the development as an historic landmark for same-sex couples throughout the country and noted that it opens the way for the Council to pass a separate law later this year allowing same-sex marriages to be performed in the District.

“I think there’s tremendous significance and opportunity in Americans seeing legally married gay couples treated with respect in our nation’s capital,” said Evan Wolfson, executive director of Freedom To Marry, a national same-sex marriage advocacy group.

The recognition entitles gay couples to all the same legal rights extended to straight couples, including inheritance, and spousal immunity benefits.

And Maryland may soon follow. Governor Martin O’Malley on a radio program yesterday said he was open to having his state recognize gay marriage as well.

The California Supreme Court in a 6-1 ruling has decided to uphold Proposition 8 which amends the California Constitution to prohibit same-sex marriage. The 18,000 same-sex marriages performed prior to the election will remain valid however despite the ruling as most analysts expected. It’s unclear if the marriage equality victories in Iowa and several New England states had any impact on the Court’s decision.

The earliest Prop 8 can now be overturned is 2010 or 2012 provided a ballot initiative is introduced that ultimately strikes down the amendment.

There are several events throughout the country this evening to protest the Court’s decision. Please visit the Day of Decision website for a complete list of cities and events.

Photos from today’s ruling outside the California Supreme Court: