Massachusetts Democrat Attorney General Martha Coakley just filed a Constitutional challenge against the Federal Defense of Marriage Act saying that the act violates the U.S. Constitution by blocking Massachusetts ability to define marriage under state law.

More news coverage here.

UPDATE:  Apparently, the Massachusetts filing could have some political impact on the U.S. Senate race to the north in New Hampshire.   From the NH Insider:

When asked, Lynch spokesman Colin Manning sounded at least sympathic to the Massachusetts argument.

“Unfortunately, the federal government does not extend the same rights and protections that New Hampshire provides same-sex families, and that should change,” said Manning. “As for the Massachusetts lawsuit, we have not reviewed the litigation.”

Ayotte is set to resign as Attorney General on July 17th to explore a U.S. Senate run. If Lynch decides before then to have the state sign-on to the lawsuit he would put Ayotte in a tough position politically. Ayotte has to both appeal to a Republican base for the primary while at the same time not alienate voters in the general election who would be living with gay marriage for nearly a year.

Really, ain’t politics just grand.  With Lynch’s numbers dropping, would a purely partisan move like this do more damage to him, or to Republican Kelly Ayotte?