Kim Davis, the infamous Kentucky marriage license clerk, will have some competition when she runs for the clerk’s seat again in 2018. David Ermold, a man who Davis denied a marriage license to because he was gay, will be running against her.

Ermold told the Lexington Herald Leader:

“I am running to restore the confidence of the people in our clerk’s office and because I believe that the leaders of our community should act with integrity and fairness, and they should put the needs of their constituents first.”

In 2015, Davis was briefly jailed because she refused to give gay couple’s their marriage licence citing her religious beliefs. While she was supported by some conservative Christians like Mike Huckabee, most Americans did not approve of what she did. She also was recently campaigning in Romania against gay marriage this summer.

It would be such poetic justice to see Ermold win against the person who denied his legal right to marriage and forced him to get married in a different country. Though how great it would be to see Ermold win as a gay man, he also is certainly qualified for the job. Here is some of his background from Ermold’s campaign website:

Since graduating Morehead State University with two Master’s degrees, David has been teaching young people as an Assistant Professor of English at the University of Pikeville. He plans and organizes classes to help students in their future careers and to be contributing members of society. David serves on multiple committees at the university, but he is also a founding member and the Director of Administration for Morehead Pride, Inc. As a member of the Board of Directors, he is responsible for helping to organize multiple charity driven events within Rowan County, and he is responsible for reaching out to leaders in surrounding areas to bring in opportunities for our citizens to grow and share in the diversity of Kentucky. Previous to his work at Pikeville, David served as the Faculty Senate Chair at Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College, and he led the senate in rewriting college policy and overhauling the senate constitution. In 2013, he was awarded the faculty of the year – Savas-Kostas Award for Excellence. During this time, David also taught for Maysville Community and Technical College, and along with planning and implementing online meetings, he worked with inmates at the Eastern Kentucky Correctional Complex in West Liberty helping to guide them with the skills needed to successfully re-enter society. Working with such a diverse population has helped David understand the needs of all those in the community, and it has helped him to understand that working together is the only way to move society forward.

We saw many great victories for progressive candidates in local elections just a month ago. We can look forward to Ermold being another one in 2018.

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