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Freedom to Marry, the nations major financial backer of same-sex marriage, will spend at least $500,000 to open field offices in Columbus, Cincinnati, Cleveland and Toledo.

The campaign also will air television commercials in Ohio, but they will not focus on a prospective ballot issue to overturn the states 2004 ban on same-sex marriage, said Marc Solomon, national campaign director for Freedom to Marry.

Solomon said his organization will spend a total of $1.1 million on Ohio, Michigan and Indiana on same-sex marriage bids. Why Marriage Matters Ohio will operate the field offices.

Freedom to Marry prefers winning in the courts over putting the issue to voters, Solomon said in an interview.

We want to win. We want to prevail. We think we have a very solid chance of prevailing through the courts. Ballot issues are never our preferred way of going. As a matter of principle, we believe its never appropriate to define the rights of minority groups through what amounts to a popularity contest. In a practical, sense, ballot campaigns are very difficult, very expensive.

Solomon said if the issue does go to voters in 2016, Freedom to Marry would be 100 percent behind that. All of the work were doing now serves all these ends.

Freedom to Marry is part of the Why Marriage Matters coalition that also includes Equality Ohio, the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio and the Human Rights Campaign.

FreedomOhio, the Ohio-based group, is not part of the coalition. FreedomOhio officials recently decided to not go to the ballot this year seeking to overturn the 2004 amendment to the Ohio Constitution that restricts marriage to one man and one woman, but to launch a new petition drive likely aimed at 2016.

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Same-sex marriage advocate opening Ohio offices