NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – The debate about same-sex marriage, so heated two years ago, seems less important this time around for voters like Phil Martin.

“It distracts us from what’s really important, like national security, terrorism, the economy,” said Martin, who considered not voting on the same-sex marriage question.

Tennessee is one of eight states with referendums Nov. 7 that would let voters decide to adopt constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage.

Voters in 11 states overwhelmingly approved similar anti-same-sex marriage measures two years ago, but activists say they’re having a tougher time getting voters motivated this time around.

“I’d say in the general population, there’s a significant portion [of voters] not driven at all by the amendment,” said Jon Paul, executive director of Coloradans for Marriage, a group opposed to same-sex marriage.

Passage is considered certain in Tennessee, Idaho, South Carolina and South Dakota.

But gay rights activists believe they have at least a chance to defeat the amendments in Arizona, Colorado, Virginia and Wisconsin.

“I think it’s more likely than not the marriage amendments will pass, but they’ll be closer than what you saw in 2004 when there were a lot of Southern states, where it obviously was going to pass,” Paul said.

Some gay rights groups are better organized and better funded this time, as well.

Cathi Herrod, spokesperson for Protecting Marriage Arizona, which supports the state’s proposed amendment, said it’s not a certainty the proposal will pass. Her group has been outspent by Arizona Together, which is against the amendment.

Arizona Together recently received a $500,000 donation and is also being supported by national gay rights groups like the Human Rights Campaign to fund its ad campaign, according to the group’s Web site.

“We’re being outspent 5- or 6-to-1 on the marriage amendment,” Herrod said. “I think in Arizona we’re having to fight complacency. Arizona voters have seen this pass in other states, and they think these measures are easy to pass and they’re not.”

“We’re not that conservative a state. We have a libertarian philosophical bent to a lot of voters here … keep government out of everything,” Herrod said.

Robert Wyatt, associate director of the Middle Tennessee State University poll, said the amendment will pass in Tennessee, but most voters are more interested in the war in Iraq, national security and health care.

“It’s largely a symbolic issue,” Wyatt said. “Tennessee is a conservative state. Gay marriage is not legal here. It’s not likely to be legal. And this makes it certain it’s not likely to ever be legal.”

Voters may have received a wake-up call when the New Jersey Supreme Court recently ruled that the state must extend all rights of marriage to same-sex couples. That ongoing political battle could bring the issue back to the forefront.

Republican state Sen. David Fowler, who sponsored Tennessee’s same-sex marriage amendment, said he believes churches and other religious groups will help pass the same-sex marriage bans on Election Day.

Fowler said the group has sent letters to nearly 7,000 churches in Tennessee encouraging them to vote yes on the amendment.

Constitutional amendments in Tennessee must be passed by successive two-year General Assemblies before going to the voters. Then, it has to win a supermajority that equals more than half of all voters in the gubernatorial election.