Skip to main content

The context you need, when you need it

When news breaks, you need to understand what actually matters — and what to do about it. At Vox, our mission to help you make sense of the world has never been more vital. But we can’t do it on our own.

We rely on readers like you to fund our journalism. Will you support our work and become a Vox Member today?

Join now

Kentucky clerk Kim Davis denied same-sex couples marriage licenses. She just lost reelection.

Davis gained national notoriety for refusing to give marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

Kentucky clerk Kim Davis at her office.
Kentucky clerk Kim Davis at her office.
Kentucky clerk Kim Davis at her office.
Ty Wright/Getty Images

Rowan County, Kentucky, clerk Kim Davis, who made headlines in 2015 for her protests against same-sex marriage, will lose her job after the midterm elections.

Davis, a Republican, lost to Democratic challenger Elwood Caudill. Caudill got 4,210 votes, or 54.1 percent, and Davis got 3,566, or 45.9 percent.

Related

Davis received a lot of national attention in 2015 when, after the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage nationwide, she refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, citing her religious objections. After she was jailed for defying courts and refusing to do her job, some evangelicals, including Republican Mike Huckabee, rallied behind her. But ultimately, Davis agreed to let her deputies issue marriage licenses and was released from jail.

As Will Wright explained for the Lexington Herald Leader, Caudill previously lost by just 23 votes in the Republican primary for the seat in 2014. But he changed parties in 2015. Caudill then went on to beat David Ermold, one of the gay men Davis denied a marriage license, in the Democratic primary this year.

And on Tuesday, Caudill defeated Kim Davis.

More in Politics

Podcasts
The Supreme Court abortion pills case, explainedThe Supreme Court abortion pills case, explained
Podcast
Podcasts

How Louisiana brought mifepristone back to SCOTUS.

By Peter Balonon-Rosen and Sean Rameswaram
Politics
Trump’s China policy is nearly the exact opposite of what everyone expectedTrump’s China policy is nearly the exact opposite of what everyone expected
Politics

As Trump heads to China, attention and resources are being shifted from Asia to yet another war in the Middle East.

By Joshua Keating
Politics
Are far-right politics just the new normal?Are far-right politics just the new normal?
Politics

Liberals are preparing for a longer war with right-wing populists than they once expected.

By Zack Beauchamp
The Logoff
Flavored vapes doomed Trump’s FDA headFlavored vapes doomed Trump’s FDA head
The Logoff

Why Marty Makary is out at the FDA, briefly explained.

By Cameron Peters
Politics
Virginia Democrats’ irresponsible new plan to save their gerrymanderVirginia Democrats’ irresponsible new plan to save their gerrymander
Politics

Democrats just handed the Supreme Court’s Republicans a loaded weapon.

By Ian Millhiser
The Logoff
Can Trump lower gas prices?Can Trump lower gas prices?
The Logoff

What suspending the gas tax would mean for you, briefly explained.

By Cameron Peters