The future of religious liberty for traditional religious believers hangs on what happens to North Carolina governor Pat McCrory’s bid for re-election this November, and he is down six points in the latest CNN poll.

The Atlanta Constitution Journal just acknowledged as much in a story on the decision to hold more public debates on the need for laws to protect the conscience rights of gay-marriage dissenters in Georgia (where Republican governor Nathan Deal vetoed such legislation in 2015):

The re-introduction of ‘religious liberty’ legislation may be a given, but its prospects could largely depend on what happens in North Carolina on Election Day.

Shortly before Deal’s veto, Gov. Pat McCrory of North Carolina signed into law a measure that barred transgender individuals from using public restrooms associated with their present identity rather than their birth gender.

McCrory is now locked in a tight re-election bid, and Democrat Hillary Clinton is now leading North Carolina polls in the presidential contest.

The Republican party institutionally is already desperately seeking some way to stand down on any issue the Left defines as “anti-gay.” The Chambers of Commerce in Indiana and Georgia have emerged as among the chief opponents of conscience protections for gay-marriage dissenters, and even Target’s unexpected losses after it proudly announced the opening of its women’s bathrooms and dressing rooms to transgender biological males hasn’t deterred the Chamber of Commerce from continuing to support the Left’s interpretation that people with penises can be women, too.

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Read the full article at National Review.

Maggie Gallagher is a senior fellow at the American Principles Project and can be followed on Twitter @MaggieGallaghe.