BY JACOB GERSHMAN

Two New York state senators who were instrumental in legalizing same-sex marriage in the state were in electoral limbo Friday after Republicans turned out in force for their opponents in a close primary that could hinge on the counting of paper ballots.

The senators, Roy McDonald, a bank executive who represents a district near Albany, and Stephen Saland, a Poughkeepsie attorney, were among four Republicans who voted to legalize gay marriage in New York in June 2011, providing the margin of victory. New York became the sixth and largest state to allow such couples to marry.

National groups opposing gay …