Led by Democrats, the Colorado House rejected a supplemental budget bill Thursday in apparent protest of Republican Attorney General Cynthia Coffman.

The extraordinary 44-20 vote against a routine $316,000 spending measure came two days after the state’s attorney general filed a lawsuit against Boulder County regarding its moratorium on oil and gas drilling.

The budget bill provided no money directly related to the legal challenge, but Democratic lawmakers used it to voice their objections against Coffman, a potential candidate for governor in 2018. The other 17 supplemental budget bills easily won approval.

“It’s virtually unheard-of for the state to sue on behalf of a private industry,” House Democratic leader KC Becker of Boulder said in a statement before the vote. “The attorney general has decided to wield the power of her office for the benefit of private companies at the expense of local communities.”

Filed Tuesday, the lawsuit declared the county’s ongoing moratorium on oil and gas development illegal, citing a Supreme Court ruling that pre-empted local governments from creating regulations on oil and gas that conflict with the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Act.

“It is not the job of industry to enforce Colorado law; that is the role of the attorney general on behalf of the people of Colorado,” Coffman said in a statement.

The lawsuit is a political touchstone that exposes rifts in the state Democratic leadership.

Gov. John Hickenlooper issued a statement questioning the need for the lawsuit even as he stood by the oil and gas industry’s rights under state law.

“We would have preferred working with the county and other stakeholders to resolve this issue without (resorting) to the courts,” Hickenlooper said. “While we understand and respect the county’s desire to put in place rules that reflect current technologies available to the oil and gas industry, we also must uphold state law.”

He added: “Last year, the Colorado Supreme Court issued two rulings that cast some doubt about whether the current moratorium exceeds legal limits. We encourage the County and the Attorney General to resolve this dispute as quickly as possible to honor Colorado law and conserve taxpayer resources.”

Meanwhile, Boulder County officials called the lawsuit a waste of time. They’re reviewing their regulations and hope to have new ones in place by the end of March.

House Democratic leadership left the door open to reconsider the supplemental budget bill for Coffman’s department at a later date.

Staff writer Jesse Paul contributed to this report.