Supporters of traditional marriage won another important victory Jan. 7 as the New Jersey Senate rejected a bill that would have made same-sex “marriage” legal.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that after nearly two hours of pleas for and against, 14 senators voted in favor of homosexual “marriage” when 21 were needed for passage. Six Democrats voted against the legislation while one Republican voted in favor.

Advocates on both sides of the issue flocked to the statehouse Jan. 7. When the final vote was announced, there was applause in the Senate chambers.

Governor-elect Christopher Christie, a Republican, had said he would veto the legislation if it had passed. Supporters of same-sex “marriage” will have to wait at least four years to bring the subject to the Legislature again.

According to the Inquirer, Sen. Gerald Cardinale, R-Bergen, said that by choosing Christie over Corzine, voters made clear where they stand on same-sex “marriage.”

The Garden State’s decision followed similar votes in Maine, New York and California that maintain the cultural and social status of traditional marriage.

Five states have legalized same-sex “marriage” since 2002: Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, Vermont and New Hampshire.

“We have known for many, many months that this would fail,” said John Tomicki, president of the New Jersey Coalition to Preserve and Protect Marriage. “The votes were not there; the votes were never going to be there.”