In this task, you are given a text of many news articles seperated by special token "|||||". Your task is to summarize them.
Q: Illinois Republican Senator Mark Kirk came out in support of marriage equality Tuesday shortly after the Supreme Court heard two potentially historic cases on gay rights. 
  
 "When I climbed the Capitol steps in January, I promised myself that I would return to the Senate with an open mind and greater respect for others," Kirk wrote on his blog. 
  
 "Same-sex couples should have the right to civil marriage. Our time on this earth is limited, I know that better than most. Life comes down to who you love and who loves you back-- government has no place in the middle." 
  
 Kirk is the second sitting Republican Senator to endorse marriage equality, following Ohio Republican Sen. Rob Portman last month. 
  
 The state senate in Illinois recently voted in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage in the state in a vote on Valentine's Day. Lawmakers in Illinois did not call the matter for a vote before they adjourned for their spring break. 
  
 Kirk, who voted to repeal Don't Ask Don't Tell, stated during a 2010 debate he supported civil unions. 
  
 "I oppose gay marriage and I support civil unions. But I also don't think we should have a federal takeover of all marriage law in the United States. I think the federal government is already trying to take over too much," Kirk said. 
  
 Kirk supported Illinois Republican party chairman Pat Brady when attempts were made to oust him after he announced his public support for the bill to allow gay marriage in Illinois. ||||| This crawl of online resources of the 115th US Congress was performed on behalf of The United States National Archives & Records ||||| Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images 
  
 Sen. Tom Carper is the most popular, safe politician in my birth state of Delaware. In my lifetime, the closest he came to a fight was the 2000 race for U.S. Senate, when national Democrats tasked him with defeating Republican Sen. Bill Roth. (You have a Roth IRA? Thank Bill Roth.) Pundits, in those pre-Nate Silver dark ages, thought it would be a toss-up. Carper beat Roth by 12 points, and went on to win two more terms with more than two-thirds of the vote. In 2012 he secured his job for six years, running seven points ahead of the Obama-Biden ticket. 
  
  
  
 David Weigel David Weigel is a reporter for Bloomberg Politics. 
  
 This all made Carper a strange hold-out on gay marriage. For weeks, when you asked his office what he thought of marriage equality you got this statement. 
  
  
  
 Sen. Carper was proud to support Delaware’s efforts to enact Civil Union legislation and earlier this month he joined 211 of his Congressional colleagues in co-signing the Amicus brief that urges the Supreme Court to invalidate Section 3 of DOMA. He has also said that he would vote to repeal DOMA. He also opposed President Bush’s attempt to enact a constitutional amendment to define marriage as between one man and one woman. Like many Americans including Presidents Obama and Clinton, Sen. Carper’s views on this issue have evolved, and continue to evolve. He continues to give this issue a great deal of consideration. 
  
  
  
  
  
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 As we've seen, the word "evolve" is a Hardy Boys-worthy hint: No one says he's "evolving" and doesn't eventually change his mind. But when would Carper do it? He's 76, and part of a generation that's been slow to embrace gay marriage, but there was no political risk for him embracing the Delawarean vice president's position. 
  
  
  
 He finally got there today, on Facebook: 
  
  
  
 As our society has changed and evolved, so too has the public's opinion on gay marriage – and so has mine. I pray every day for God to grant me the wisdom to do what is right. Through my prayers and conversations with my family and countless friends and Delawareans, I've been reminded of the power of one of my core values: the Golden Rule. It calls on us to treat others as we want to be treated. That means, to me, that all Americans ultimately should be free to marry the people they love and intend to share their lives with, regardless of their sexual orientation, and that's why today, after a great deal of soul searching, I'm endorsing marriage equality. 
  
 Carper's evolution reduces the Senate's number of gay marriage Democratic hold-outs to seven: Indiana Sen. Joe Donnelly, North Dakota Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, South Dakota Sen. Tim Johnson, Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu, West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, Florida Sen. Bill Nelson, and Arkansas Sen. Mark Pryor. In what order will they evolve? To know this we need to put them into teams. 
  
 Senators retiring next year: Johnson 
  
 Senators up for re-election next year: Landrieu, Pryor 
  
 Senators not up for re-election until 2018: Donnelly, Heitkamp, Manchin, Nelson 
  
 Senators from states that have voted for Obama at least once: Donnelly, Nelson |||||
A: 
Mark Kirk just became the second Republican senator to come out in support of gay marriage, BuzzFeed reports. "Same-sex couples should have the right to civil marriage. Our time on this earth is limited," he wrote on his website today. "Life comes down to who you love and who loves you back—government has no place in the middle." Kirk, from Illinois, follows Rob Portman in switching positions; a third GOP senator, Lisa Murkowski, hasn't switched yet, but says her views are "evolving." Another Democratic senator, Tom Carper from Delaware, also endorsed same-sex marriage today, the Washington Post reports. On his Facebook page, Carper cited the Golden Rule as his reason. With Carper's change of heart and Bob Casey's yesterday, just seven Democratic senators remain who have not endorsed gay marriage. On Slate, David Weigel speculates who might be next: Probably Florida's Bill Nelson, who isn't up for re-election until 2018 and is from a state that has voted Obama. Click for the rest of his predictions.