The action was brought on behalf of four couples — one from Madison, one from Eau Claire and two from Milwaukee — who want the right to legally wed in Wisconsin. One of the couples, Carol Schumacher and Virginia Wolf of Eau Claire, were married in Minnesota in December, but their union is not legally recognized in Wisconsin. They’ve been together for 38 years, raising two children and are now grandparents to four children.

Republican Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen has said he will “vigorously defend” Wisconsin’s constitutional ban, which passed two Legislatures and was approved in 2006 by 59 percent of voters. He called the amendment “clearly constitutional.” And Republican Gov. Scott Walker said last week he sees no “significant movement” toward changing the status quo.

But if Wisconsin has a change in political leadership — if a Democrat replaces the retiring Van Hollen and Walker loses to Democratic rival Mary Burke this fall — the state could be in the position of refusing to defend its own marriage ban next year.

Court ruling influential