Clerk Kim Davis switching parties to become a Republican

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - Kentucky clerk Kim Davis, a longtime Democrat, said she is switching to the Republican Party because she feels abandoned by Democrats in her fight against same-sex marriage.

Davis made the announcement while in Washington, D.C., to attend the Family Research Council's Value Voters Summit, said Charla Bansley, a spokeswoman for Liberty Counsel, which represents Davis in her legal battles.

"I've always been a Democrat, but the party left me," Davis said, according to Bansley.

Davis will address the conservative group Friday night.

She sparked a national furor by refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples after the Supreme Court effectively legalized gay marriage in June. A federal judge ordered Davis to issue the licenses, but she refused, and opted to spend five days in jail rather than license a gay marriage. The ordeal propelled her to folk hero status among some on the religious right.

Davis was elected Rowan County clerk last fall as a Democrat. She replaced her mother, also a Democrat, who served as county clerk for 37 years.

However, Republicans, not Democrats, came to her defense.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a Baptist preacher running for president but trailing badly in the polls, rushed to Davis' side, visited her in jail and held a religious freedom rally on the jailhouse lawn. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz also traveled to Kentucky to bask in her defiance.

Davis meanwhile lumps blame for her legal problems on Steve Beshear, the state's Democratic governor, who refused to call the state Legislature for a special session and allow lawmakers to hammer out a way to exempt religious clerks from issuing the licenses. The governor instead told clerks to either issue the licenses or resign.

So when a Reuters reporter asked her in Washington on Friday about the support she'd received from the GOP, Davis revealed she decided last week to switch her allegiances to the Republican ticket, her attorney, Mat Staver, wrote in a statement.

"However, the issue of religious freedom in this case is not a partisan issue," he added. "It is neither Republican nor Democrat. It is an inalienable right and what makes America the land of liberty."

Davis declined an interview request from the Associated Press.