A McCain staffer said it was the first time the senator had been formally asked to support the marriage amendment and the first chance he had to meet with supporters.

The amendment "would allow the people of Arizona to decide on the definition of marriage in our state," McCain said in a statement Thursday.

McCain, who opposes a federal constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, believes those are state matters.

Steve May, former state lawmaker and a key opponent of the measure, said McCain is paving the way to run for the White House and wants to secure public support.

"We have a year to convince John McCain and the rest of Arizonans about how harmful this measure really is," May said.

A state law already bans same-sex marriages in Arizona, but supporters of the initiative are concerned that a judge could rule the law unconstitutional.

The purpose of the constitutional amendment would be to prevent that and to define marriage as being between a man and a woman.

Those behind the citizens-led initiatives need tens of thousands of signatures from registered voters to qualify for a public vote.

Lawmakers are gauging the public's pulse before asking the Legislature to refer certain referendums to the ballot.

In addition to the same-sex marriage initiative, Arizonans are lining up behind measures to ban smoking in public places, build a wall to keep immigrants from crossing the Arizona-Mexico border, preserve open space and raise the state's minimum wage.

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