If GOP gubernatorial hopeful Pat McCrory has been quiet about a constitutional amendment banning same-sex unions, incumbent Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue has been even quieter.

Perdue has arguably the state's biggest megaphone, and she hasn't hesitated to use it this year when she didn't approve of what Republican lawmakers were doing at the other end of Jones St.  But she stayed well away from this week's acrimonious debate over the amendment.  

Asked today whether the governor would or would not vote for the amendment in May, her spokeswoman Chris Mackey sent out this statement:

"The Governor’s top priority is jobs. Sadly, the Republicans in the General Assembly have been distracted all year by partisan issues that fail to grow jobs. For example, they intruded on a woman’s relationship with her doctor, and they tried to impose barriers to disenfranchise eligible and legitimate voters. Now the Republicans are distracted by an unnecessary, partisan exercise to ban something that’s already illegal in North Carolina. This amendment would not create a single job. The Governor is not going to waste any more time distracted by their partisan sideshows."

While the word "partisan" appears three times in that statement, there's no sign of "support" or "oppose."

A follow-up email asking again how the governor would vote on the amendment went unanswered. 

Perdue voted for the 1996 state law defining marriage as between a man and a woman.  

McCrory has said he supports the amendment.