Cedar Rapids, Iowa ? Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is optimistic the Legislature quickly will reinstate a ban on same-sex couples serving as foster parents in his state.

“What we are talking about is whether the state should place a child in a relationship that is not recognized by the state as a marriage,” the Republican governor, a potential presidential candidate in 2008, told The Associated Press on Saturday.

The Arkansas Supreme Court last month struck down regulations banning the placement of foster children with same-sex couples. The court said state officials went too far in imposing the ban, but the court did not rule on the merit of the ban.

Huckabee, an ordained Baptist minister who is leaving office in 2007 because of term limits, has said there is little doubt the Legislature will reinstate the ban and that the courts eventually will uphold it.

Huckabee spoke as he opened a three-day campaign swing in Iowa, where precinct caucuses traditionally launch the presidential nominating season.