Gay marriage may be settled law, but it’s not a settled issue for many religious conservatives.

Trailing narrowly in the polls ahead of tomorrow’s Kentucky gubernatorial election, Republicans are trying to motivate evangelicals by invoking the case of county clerk Kim Davis and the Supreme Court’s decision recognizing gay marriage.

Republican Matt Bevin planned to emphasize economic issues in his campaign, but he discovered that voters preferred to talk about social issues, including gay marriage and defunding Planned Parenthood. “I hear more about those now as I’m out on the campaign trail than I do about anything else,” he said. “This is what moves people.”

Bevin endorsed Davis as a cause célèbre in September, going on national TV to offer his full support and visiting her in jail (along with Mike Huckabee and Ted Cruz).

As Bevin traversed the Bluegrass State the past few days, his body man handed out postcards that described him as “the only candidate for governor that has stood up for traditional marriage and religious liberty.” In his stump speech, Bevin asserts that only 25 percent of born-again Christians vote compared to 75 percent of “agnostics and atheists.”

“This is why the tail seems to keep wagging the dog,” he says. “We need to stop being so sheep-like, so silent and being led around. We’ve got to stand firm.”

Brad Hornsby, who runs a children’s ministry at his ranch, remains steadfastly against gay marriage. “We’re so traditional here that nobody even asks the question,” the 42-year-old, wearing a cowboy hat, said after watching Bevin speak here. “It’s a major issue.”

Republican state Sen. Jared Carpenter, campaigning with Bevin at the Limestone Grill in nearby Mount Vernon, blamed gay couples who forced Rowan County to issue licenses for turning Davis into a “martyr.”

“It’s kind of like gun rights,” he said. “Everybody thinks there’s no way they can take their guns away. Then all of a sudden they start seeing some infringement on their gun rights. Now they’re thinking, ‘Oh wow, if they can put her in jail because she doesn’t believe in this morally, then why can’t they take our guns away?’ So it engages a whole new constituency because they realize, wow, we do have to protect ourselves.”

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jack Conway, center, campaigns in Owensboro last week. (Jenny Sevcik/The Messenger-Inquirer via AP)

The Democratic candidate for governor, Attorney General Jack Conway, declined in early 2014 to appeal a federal judge’s ruling that the state’s ban was discriminatory.He agonized over the case for weeks and choked up during the press conference announcing his decision.

The outgoing Democratic governor, Steve Beshear, thinks that the numbers are moving but a majority of Kentuckians still oppose gay marriage. In 2004, 75 percent of Kentucky voters supported the amendment to the state constitution that banned the recognition of same-sex marriages. “Today the polling indicates it’s still maybe a 60/40 split against gay marriage,” he told me. “Obviously you’re going to have a segment of the population that, for religious reasons or whatever reasons, just are wound up on that one issue. But most Kentuckians, I think, are moving on and focusing on: how do we make life better?” A poll conducted last week shows voters are deeply divided about how to deal with the Davis problem.

Conway got uncomfortable and laughed nervously when I asked him to explain his support for gay marriage. “The good paying jobs of the future are coming to states with inclusivity,” he said. “I believe that discrimination is a bright line in the sand.” He said he’s “not surprised” that passions continue to run high. “Look, Kim Davis went to jail not because of her religious beliefs,” he said. “She went to jail because she defied a federal court order. We’re a nation of laws, and you have to follow the law.” Conway said he would sign a “narrowly tailored” law next year granting clerks some flexibility for moral objections. He’s taken some heat from the left for not criminally prosecuting Davis. The only remaining civil remedy would be for the state legislature to impeach Davis, who is still in the first year of a four-year term.

Very low turnout is expected in tomorrow’s gubernatorial contest, which puts a premium on each side getting out its base. Fewer than one-third of eligible voters are expected to cast ballots, and about half as many absentee ballots have been cast as four years ago. Mitch McConnell will campaign with Bevin, his 2014 primary challenger, in Louisville this morning.

In an interview, Bevin accused the local media of trying to suppress coverage about social issues in the run-up to the elections. “I don’t know if we’re officially part of the Bible Belt or not, but this is an important part of how people think,” he told me. “It’s not dormant. It’s latent. It’s right there below the surface. The media wanted it gone fast because it gets people fired up. They try not to talk about it, unless I bring it up. … They have a different world view.”

Working to drive up his numbers in some of the reddest parts of the state, Bevin has found very receptive audiences:

• “The marriage thing is a big deal,” said Doug Bishop, the Judge-Executive in Rockcastle County (that’s the locally-elected equivalent of a county executive), after hearing Bevin speak. “It’s a motivating factor. … I’ve heard so much talk about it in so many of the churches because they know it’s an attack on their religious values.”
• Baptist pastor Mark Easton said that the Supreme Court’s decision woke some people up. “I know there’s an anti-Christ spirit in our country today,” he said in a prayer to open a lunch that Bevin spoke at. “It’s amazing the small segment of our population that makes so much noise and the large segment that makes so little noise. We need to let our voice be heard.”

The gay marriage issue is not going away any time soon. All of this should serve as a reminder that, while polls have moved dramatically and elite opinion has hardened for gay rights, steadfast and determined resistance endures in red states. A similar dynamic is playing out in Iowa, where a handful of Republican presidential candidates trying to curry favor with social conservatives have called for national constitutional amendments to invalidate the SCOTUS ruling. Kim Davis was a conservative Democrat but changed her party affiliation to Republican in the wake of the summer saga, a reflection of the sorting out that continues in the South. GOP insiders say her husband has expressed interest in running for the state legislature next year.

Source Washington Post