“I agree with the plaintiffs,” said McDonell, the former Dane County Board chairman elected as county clerk last year.

McDonell and Czarnezki said attorneys for their respective counties are researching the question of how or whether the two could join the ACLU in the lawsuit. Both confirmed, however, that they have already decided not to use the attorney general’s office for legal representation.

“We’re not going to use Van Hollen — that’s a fact,” McDonell said.

The lawsuit alleges that Wisconsin’s gay marriage ban violates the U.S. Constitution’s guarantee of equal treatment under the law and denies same-gender couples the “fundamental” freedom to marry. Virginia experienced a similar turnaround when the newly elected Democratic attorney general decided late last month not to defend that state’s gay-marriage ban in an ACLU lawsuit.

Czarnezki said the lawsuit puts him in a bind. As an elected official, he has sworn to uphold the state Constitution, but he believes the marriage amendment is wrong.

“I look forward to having a federal judge order me to issue a license to a same-sex couple,” Czarnezki said. “Personally, I favor marriage equality.”