Story highlights Sweet Cakes by Melissa refused service to a lesbian couple

Avakian lost his bid to Oregon Secretary of State to a Republican

(CNN) Could it be the year of the underdog? The presidential election wasn't the only contest to see an upset.

Oregon Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian, who came to national attention for heftily fining a local bakery that refused to make a wedding cake for a lesbian couple, lost. Avakian, a champion of the LGBTQ community, was running for Secretary of State.

As labor commissioner since 2008, Avakian often made news for his tough calls against businesses discriminating against gay and transgender customers.

The most noteworthy was when Sweet Cakes by Melissa refused to make the wedding cake for the same-sex couple in 2013, citing the owners' religious beliefs. Shop owners Melissa and Aaron Klein were ordered to pay $135,000 in emotional damages. They were also told they couldn't refuse customers based on sexual orientation.

"Sweet Cakes by Melissa" was located in Gresham, Oregon.

Melissa Klein claimed the ruling stripped the couple of their First Amendment rights. "According to the state of Oregon we neither have freedom of religion or freedom of speech," she said in a Facebook post at the time.