UPDATE: Kentucky clerk who was jailed faces ’14 opponent

UPDATE: LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) – 9:30 p.m.

A county clerk in Kentucky who went to jail three years ago for denying marriage licenses to same-sex couples now knows who her challenger will be in the fall election.

Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis was the last one to leave the office Tuesday night after votes were counted.

She faces Elwood Caudill, who won a four-way Democratic primary, defeating David Ermold. Ermold was one of those denied a marriage license in 2015, and his campaign raised more than $200,000 with donations from at least 48 states.

Davis defeated Caudill by 23 votes as a Democrat in 2014. She said she wasn’t surprised that Ermold was beaten so handily by Caudill, who works in the property valuation administrator’s office.

Davis said the funds Ermold raised didn’t mean much to voters in Rowan County because the money was from people who don’t live there or vote there.
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UPDATE: MOREHEAD, Ky. (AP) – Despite funding edge, gay man loses bid to take on Kim Davis, GOP Kentucky clerk who denied his marriage license in 2015.

A gay man in eastern Kentucky has lost his bid to challenge a Republican county clerk who went to jail three years ago for denying him and others marriage licenses in the aftermath of an historic U.S. Supreme Court decision.

David Ermold was seeking the Democratic nomination for county clerk in Rowan County, Kentucky. He hoped to challenge Kim Davis, the religious conservative who said in 2015 “God’s authority” prevented her from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

But Ermold lost to Elwood Caudill in a four-way Democratic primary on Tuesday, despite a campaign that raised more than $200,000 with donations from at least 48 states. Caudill will face Davis in the November general election. No one challenged Davis for the Republican nomination.

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LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WTVQ)- Voters in one Kentucky county are choosing a nominee to run this fall against a county clerk who went to jail rather than issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

Most voters interviewed at the Carl Perkins Community Center in Morehead on Tuesday said they were supporting Democrat David Ermold. Ermold is a gay man who was denied a marriage license in 2015 and wants to challenge Republican incumbent Kim Davis.

Jacqueline Scott said she didn’t like the way Davis handled the gay marriage issue. The 72-year-old registered Republican wasn’t able to vote for Ermold in the primary. She says she likes Davis’ family but will support the Democratic nominee this fall.

Another voter, 30-year-old Danielle Hobson, says she believes Davis wasn’t right to invoke religion when refusing to sign marriage certificates for gay couples.

But 76-year-old Brenda Sparks said she can’t support Ermold because of what the Bible says about homosexuality. She voted for Democrat Elwood Caudill Jr.