Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee said Wednesday that he had called Kim Davis to offer his “prayers and support” to the defiant clerk.

Davis, the elected county clerk of Rowan County, Kentucky is defying a court order to issue marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples. On Tuesday, she turned away at least four gay couples despite having exhausted all possible legal options.

(Related: KY clerk faces contempt hearing for refusing to issue marriage licenses to gay couples.)

“I spoke with Kim Davis this morning to offer my prayers and support,” Huckabee, an ordained Southern Baptist minister and ardent opponent of LGBT rights, said in a written statement. “I let her know how proud I am of her for not abandoning her religious convictions and standing strong for religious liberty. She is showing more courage and humility than just about any federal office holder in Washington.”

Other candidates for the GOP presidential nomination, including former HP CEO Carly Fiorina, Ohio Governor John Kasich and South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, said that while they oppose marriage equality, Davis must perform her job.

“I support traditional marriage, but she's accepted a job where she has to apply the law to everyone. And that's her choice,” Graham said during an appearance on the Hugh Hewitt Show.

Catherine Frazier, a spokeswoman for Texas Senator Ted Cruz, appeared to back Davis, saying that the court “has no business to compel people of faith to violate their religious beliefs.”