Michael R. Long works out of a cluttered office above a Greek restaurant in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, one block from the liquor store that still bears his family's name, with a replica John Wayne revolver and a photo of Ronald Reagan on the wall. Unlike other political bosses, he fields no phalanx of high-priced lobbyists and consultants. He is virtually unknown to most New Yorkers.
But Mr. Long, the chairman of the state Conservative Party, has emerged this year as the single most potent -- and immovable -- obstacle to the legalization of same-sex marriage in New York.

As supporters enlist celebrity endorsements, opponents spin up advertising campaigns, and both sides swarm the State Capitol to lobby wavering lawmakers, the gravel-voiced Mr. Long, a father of nine, has used two simple weapons: an unshakable belief that gay unions would undermine the institution of marriage, and his power to bestow, or withdraw, the Conservative Party ballot line in next year's legislative elections.