New Jersey's Democratic-controlled state Senate approved a same-sex marriage bill on Monday but New Jersey was unlikely to become the eighth state in the country to approve gay marriage as Republican Gov. Chris Christie has promised to veto it.

The state Assembly was expected to approve the measure on Thursday and send it to Christie, one of the country's leading Republicans and a possible vice-presidential candidate.

The Senate vote of 24 to 16 came on the same day Washington state Gov. Christine Gregoire was scheduled to sign a bill making Washington the seventh state to legalize same-sex marriage.

New Jersey's Democratic leadership, which controls both houses of the legislature, has made gay marriage a top priority this session, saying the state's civil union law does not adequately protect same-sex couples.

Though the bill had majority support in the legislature, it was unlikely to have the two-thirds majority needed to override Christie's promised veto.

"The word marriage is society's universal civil and legal acknowledgment of a loving relationship," Sen. Loretta Weinberg, the bill's sponsor, said during the debate. "It's time for New Jersey to get on the right side of history and enact true marriage equality for every one of our residents."

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