It would have been poetic justice, to replace the county clerk who denied you a marriage licence, but sadly for David Ermold, his attempt to unseat the controversial Kim Davis has proved futile.

In a much publicised case 3 years ago, Davis defied a US Federal court order and took it upon herself to refuse to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples in Rowan County. Hypocritically espousing the sanctity of marriage when she herself was on her fourth, Davis cited the excuse of moral objection in her refusal to carry out her duties. She was hailed as a hero by right wing and ultra religious conservatives who chose to ignore the fact she was breaking the law with her stance.

In the weeks to follow, she was jailed for her actions but was released a mere 5 days later as her deputy clerks had begun issuing marriage licenses in her absence. 

One of the couples affected by her actions was David Ermold and his partner David Moore. Greatly affected by his experience, Ermold announced in December he would run against Davis for the position of county clerk stating he wanted to “restore professional leadership, fairness and responsibility to the office”.

Despite raising substantially more money in campaign funds than his opponent, up to $200,000, he was eventually defeated in the Democratic primary. Elwood Caudill Jr, the successful candidate, had stated he didn’t want to focus on the same-sex marriage issue as part of his campaign, hoping to forget about the marriage licence debacle. He said, “What happened in 2015 is in the past and we’re just focused on the future.”

It was suggested that the residents of Rowan County didn’t want a return to the heavy media attention that would surely follow if Ermold was successful, with many Republicans even refusing to vote for Davis herself due to the negative press the county received.

While his campaign may not have been successful, he was diplomatic in his response, tweeting, “Today, I stand amazed by the outpouring of support for our campaign by both those in Rowan County and by those across the country. Our primary was a truly competitive race, and I am so proud of our accomplishments.

https://twitter.com/DErmold/status/999124922835357697

It remains to be seen if Caudill Jr, the successful Democratic candidate, can gather the votes needed to oust Davis from her position.