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A gay man denied a marriage license by Kim Davis is now trying to take her job
Kim Davis, the Rowan County clerk in Kentucky who served jail time for refusing to grant a marriage license to a gay couple in 2015, may be facing one of the men she refused to grant the license to in next year's election. (2016 file photo/Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)

A gay man denied a marriage license by Kim Davis is now trying to take her job

Remember Kim Davis? She made national headlines as the county clerk in Kentucky who served jail time for refusing to grant a marriage license to a gay couple in 2015.

Now, one of the men she denied a license to is coming after her seat in 2018.

The couple was David Ernold and David Moore. The two are now married, and Ernold filed to run against Davis on Wednesday.

“I think we need to deal with the circumstances and the consequences of what happened,” Ernold said. “I don’t think the other candidates are looking at a larger message. I have an obligation here, really, to do this and to set things right.”

Ernold is an English professor at the University of Pikeville, and also the leader of Morehead Pride, a local gay rights organization.

Mat Staver, Davis’s attorney, dismissed Ernold as unqualified to be a country clerk.

“The clerk’s position is more than a single-issue position, and that’s all David has is one issue,” Staver said to the Associated Press. “Much of what the clerk does has nothing to do with wedding licenses. It’s a broad service to the public.”

It’s far from a one-on-one race for the seat. Ernold will be competing against at least three other Democrats to run against the Republican Davis.

Davis was registered as a Democrat until her controversial decision, after which she changed to Republican amid uproar. She has held the clerkship since 2014, and her mother held it before that. Davis’s son is also an employee in the office.

“The county clerk’s office has been in the hands of the same family for almost 35 years,” Ernold said. “I think there’s the potential they want to keep it in the family. But everyone should have a fair shot; it should not be something that’s handed down from mother to daughter and from daughter to son.”

(H/T Washington Post and Associated Press)

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