"With views this extreme it's no wonder she doesn't want voters to know what she believes," Nelson said in a statement.

The head of the state's largest gay rights group, Fair Wisconsin, said Kleefisch's comments don't reflect the views of "sensible and decent Wisconsinites." The group's political action committee has endorsed Walker's Democratic challenger, Tom Barrett.

Perhaps the harshest reaction to Kleefisch's statements came from her own uncle, Chris Pfauser. The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported that Pfauser has lived in an openly gay relationship for 18 years and said he was "incredibly disappointed" by her comments.

He added that he'd been led to believe Kleefisch supported his relationship, and questioned her qualifications for the job.

"I don't feel she is qualified - even less qualified than Sarah Palin would have been for the VP role," Pfauser told the Journal Sentinel.

Last year the state Legislature passed, and Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle signed, a law that gives same-sex couples some legal rights enjoyed by married couples, such as the right to visit each other in the hospital.