Anti-gay marriage country clerk Kim Davis loses reelection in Kentucky

Kim Davis, the Kentucky county clerk who was briefly jailed for refusing to issue same-sex marriage licenses, lost her bid for reelection on Tuesday.

Democrat Elwood Caudill Jr. beat Davis, a Republican, in the race for Rowan County clerk by an estimated 4,210 votes to 3,566 votes with all 19 precincts reporting, according to the Lexington Herald Leader.

TOTALS from the Kim Davis race in Rowan County:
Davis (R): 3566
Caudill (D): 4210@heraldleader @BGPolitics

— Will Wright (@HLWright) November 7, 2018

Unofficial results have Elwood Caudill Jr winning the Rowan Co. Clerk’s race, defeating incumbent Kim Davis. @WKYT pic.twitter.com/h2GiVresEO

— Matthew Rand (@MatthewWKYT) November 7, 2018

Davis refused to issue same-sex marriage licenses, citing her religious beliefs, after the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in 2015.

{mosads}She was sued by five couples and a judge ordered her to issue the marriage licenses. She spent five days in jail when she refused to comply with the decision. 

The Kentucky state legislature later changed the law so clerks did not have to sign their names on the documents in response to her refusal, which made national headlines.

Caudill secured the Democratic nomination during the May primary after defeating David Ermold, a gay man who was denied a marriage license by Davis in 2015.

Davis has since risen to prominence among Republicans, earning recognition from former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas). She met Pope Francis at the White House and was invited to President Trump‘s first joint address to Congress in 2017.

Davis also visited Romania last year to campaign for an anti-same sex marriage law.