PORTLAND -- For the city's gay and lesbian residents and their supporters, the sting of Tuesday's election defeat was softened by the vote in their hometown. Nearly three-quarters of Portland voters rejected Question 1, the people's veto of the state law legalizing same-sex marriage.

In total, the city delivered 20,085 "no" votes and 7,242 "yes" votes.

Supporters of same-sex marriage expected that a big turnout in Portland would undercut the measure's strong support in rural Maine, but they fell short. Mainers passed the measure by a margin of nearly 32,000 votes, 53 percent to 47 percent.

Remarkable in how much they differed from the rest of the state, the city's election results further cemented Portland's reputation as the state's capital of liberal causes.

Tuesday's vote put Portland among the most liberal cities in the Northeast, with Cambridge and Northampton, Mass., and Brooklyn, N.Y., said Jed Rathband, a political consultant who moved to Portland from San Francisco.

He noted that Portland voters also supported Question 5, broadening the state's provisions for medical marijuana, 75 percent to 25 percent.

"We are truly able to stand out as a liberal bastion," he said.

In every precinct, the majority of Portland voters said "no" to Question 1, from a high of 86 percent in Parkside to a low of 56 percent in North Deering.

Portland's "no" vote topped even the percentage of "no" votes in the liberal communities of Orono, Bar Harbor and Ogunquit.

Portland's inner suburbs joined the city in opposing Question 1, but support for gay marriage declined for the most part farther from the city, starting around Windham, where 53 percent supported the people's veto. In Aroostook County, nearly three-quarters of the voters supported repeal.

It wasn't just rural Maine that rejected legalizing gay marriage. The majority of voters in Lewiston, Augusta, Biddeford, Sanford and Ellsworth supported Question 1.

Observers say several factors may explain the strong support for gay marriage in Portland.

They note that the city's thickly settled neighborhoods made it easier for Question 1 opponents to campaign door-to-door.

Also, the city's residents are younger than the state as whole, and younger people tend to be more supportive of gay rights. Thirty-six percent of Portland residents are 25 to 44 years old, compared with 26 percent statewide, according to the most recent U.S. Census statistics.

The Catholic Church, which played a major role in the repeal campaign, has less influence in Portland than in cites like Lewiston and Biddeford, which have large Franco-American populations.

The city is politically liberal. Only 17 percent of registered voters in Portland are Republicans. The last Portland Republican elected to the State House was the late Joel Abramson -- a social liberal who was an ardent supporter of gay rights. He died in 2002 while in office.

Portland is also home to one of the largest per-capita populations of gays and lesbians on the East Coast. Outtraverler.com calls Portland one of the "top five surprisingly gay towns" in America.

Ronald Schmidt, an associate professor of political science at the University of Southern Maine, said the biggest factor in Portlanders' support for gay marriage is that the city is surprisingly urban for its relatively small population.

People who live in cities are more comfortable with diversity, more likely to know gay people and more supportive of liberal causes, he said.

He said the process of self-selection, in which like-minded liberals move to Portland, has created a critical mass.

"I find it striking, having lived in California and Chicago, how much of an urban culture Portland can sustain with such a small population," he said.

Because they live in a city, Portlanders are more familiar with a social problems and with people who are different, said Mark Hampton, 51, a self-employed soil scientist who lives in Deering Center. "It's always right there in front of us."

It's not unusual, he said, for straight parents in Portland to encounter gay parents at school or on the sidelines of soccer games, he said.

In his new book, "The Big Sort," Bill Bishop argues that Americans are increasingly segregating themselves in separate communities based on political views and economic status, adding to the nation's political polarization.

Portlanders' strong support for gay marriage may have made its supporters overconfident when Election Day arrived.

Portland Mayor Jill Duson said she was surprised that Question 1 passed.

"I am very proud of my city," she said, "and I also question how it is we are so out of touch with the rest of our state."

Christian McNeal, a transportation activist in Portland who grew up in Standish, said that gay marriage supporters should have focused more on interacting with rural Mainers.

"To me, it was one of their tactical errors, not reaching out to rural areas," he said. "If a person or a household knows a gay family or gay couple, it becomes a lot more difficult to discriminate."

Betsy Smith, executive director of Portland-based Equality Maine, an advocacy group for gays and lesbians, said the city's vote provided her with a measure of comfort.

Three days after the election, she was still emotional about the defeat, weeping as she recounted how she broke the news to her two young children.

"Portland is my community," she said, "and it is always helpful to know that the community supports us, and that is why we chose to live in Portland."