Gay man who was refused marriage licence runs against the elected official who denied him

David Ermold wants to unseat Rowan County, Kentucky Clerk Kim Davis

Kim Clark faces an election challenge (REUTERS/James Lawler Duggan)

A Kentucky county clerk who refused to issue marriage licences to same-sex couples is facing an election challenge from one of the people she denied.

David Ermold announced that he would try to unseat Rowan County Clerk Kim Clark, who drew global attention to an her position when she cited her religious opposition to same-sex marriage as a reason to not issue marriage licences, even though the law required her to do so.

In addition to notoriety, Ms Clark’s refusal earned her a jail stint for contempt of court and a lawsuit from couples she would not issue licences to. Mr Ermold and his partner David Moore were among those suing Ms Clark.

Now Mr Ermold is moving his advocacy from the courthouse to the campaign trail, announcing his candidacy in a Facebook video that pledges to “bring integrity back into that office”.

“If I’m going to point out something that’s wrong then I want to be part of the solution too,” Mr Ermold said.

The video shows footage of Ms Kim trying to dismiss Mr Ermold, overlaid with the phrase “taking on county clerk Kim Davis again”.

“What’s important is the consequences since then, and how has that all affected our community,” Mr Ermold said, adding that “the people in our community, they’re ready to move on, and they don’t really want Kim Davis out there dragging us through the dirt over and over and over again. And that’s what she keeps doing. And they want it to stop, and we’re going to make it stop”.

Mr Ermold is running as a Democrat. After running as a Democrat in 2014, when she won her county clerk race by a little under 500 votes out of roughly 7,300 cast, Ms Davis switched her registration to Republican.