A federal judge has rejected claims by GOP leaders that North Carolina's attorney general — a Democrat running for governor — won't adequately defend a state law that lets magistrates refuse to perform gay marriages based on their religious beliefs.

Attorney General Roy Cooper's role in defending laws passed by the state's Republican-led legislature has been a thorny issue in his campaign to unseat Republican Gov. Pat McCrory — perhaps the country's most closely watched gubernatorial race.

North Carolina has been at the center of a national debate over LGBT rights since it enacted another law this year requiring transgender people to use restrooms corresponding to the sex on their birth certificate — a measure Cooper denounced and declined to defend in court.


Cooper's office, however, is fighting in court to uphold the 2015 law that allows local magistrates to decline to perform same-sex marriages. The case represents a political quandary for Cooper, who has spoken against that law, too.

Still, U.S. Magistrate Judge Dennis Howell wrote Thursday that Cooper has "zealously" and "aggressively" fought for the the law by seeking dismissal of plaintiffs' claims that the measure is unconstitutional. Howell's order denied an effort by state House Speaker Tim Moore and Senate leader Phil Berger, both Republicans, to intervene with private attorneys.