Gay candidate's loss more about Kentucky politics than clerk Kim Davis
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David Ermold returned to the Rowan County courthouse Wednesday, nearly two years after Clerk Kim Davis refused to give him a marriage license because he was gay. This time he’s seeking Davis’ job. (Dec. 6)
AP
MOREHEAD, Ky. — In the end, it wasn’t about same-sex marriage, gay rights or Kim Davis. It was about local politics and a seasoned candidate who defeated one who was lesser known.
And as a result, the morality play scheduled for Rowan County this fall has been canceled.
Despite raising 100 times as much as his Democratic primary opponents combined — more than $200,000 from 22 states and Hollywood celebrities like Amy Schumer and Susan Sarandon — the man denied a marriage license by the incumbent clerk will not get the chance to take her job.
David Ermold, the English teacher whose bid to capture the office won national attention, failed to survive a four-person Democratic primary, while Davis, who refused Ermold and his partner a marriage license in 2015 while citing “God’s authority,†had no opposition as a Republican.
Her lawyer, Mat Staver, the founder of Liberty Counsel, said Ermold was a single-issue candidate motivated by revenge.
“The people of Rowan County want someone who will serve them as clerk, not someone whose only reason for running is spite and vengeance,†Staver said in an email. “David Ermold never had local support and had no clue what the clerk does on a daily basis.â€
Davis said in an interview at her office Wednesday morning that  “the people have spoken, and they have spoken loudly.â€
She said their message is they wanted the election to be about who would make the best clerk.
Morehead Mayor Jim Tom Trent said Ermold lost only because he ran against a better-known and more experienced politician who sought the same office four years ago — and came within 23 votes of defeating Davis in that primary.
Hollywood entertainers may have backfired. “They have no more clue what Americans want than David Ermold has about running the clerk’s office,†he said.
Davis said, “Money can’t buy you an election, especially when that money comes from out of state.”
But Trent and other Democrats said the contributions from afar didn’t hurt Ermold and that his deep pockets allowed him to run radio ads, pay for well-positioned billboards and hire a staff of 11.
To some Democratic voters, like second-grade teacher Anne Teager and her mother, Nancy Marsh, a retired occupational therapist, the primary was a referendum on Davis and a chance to get rid of her.
“She is an embarrassment for Rowan County,†Marsh said, sipping coffee at the Bakery on Main in Morehead’s downtown.
Sean Zehnder, who transferred from Lexington to Rowan County last year with his wife and son to take a job at an electronic health care records company, said Davis gave them their biggest pause in moving here.
He said he admired Ermold for standing up to her. “He’s pretty courageous,†Zehnder said, wearing an “I voted†sticker as he bought ice cream for his family at Pop’s Southern Style BBQ.
But Republicans who support Davis are just as eager to cast their ballots for her in the fall.
Rochell Beamon, 26, has a nose stud and six tattoos. As she sat in the Coffee Tree Books/Fuzzy Duck Coffee Shop, where Ermold announced his campaign, she said she supports Davis “100 percent, because I am a Christian, too.â€
Morehead City Councilman Tom Carew said that Ermold worked hard — and his message resonated in Morehead, one of Kentucky’s first cities to adopt a fairness ordinance.
He said Davis, who switched to the Republican Party after she got out of jail, could be punished by voters in November for doing so; Democrats outnumber Republicans by about two to one in Rowan.
While Davis laid low during the Democratic primary, Keith Kappes, former editor and publisher of the Morehead News, said she is expected to bring in some heavy guns in the fall, like former GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, who came to Morehead in 2015 to support her in the gay marriage debate.
More: Gay man loses bid to challenge Kentucky clerk Kim Davis, who denied same-sex marriages
More: Amy Schumer, Susan Sarandon give cash to Kentucky clerk Kim Davis’ would-be opponent
Follow Andrew Wolfson on Twitter: @adwolfson
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