(CNN)–Senator Sam Brownback criticized an Iowa district court ruling that said same-sex couples have the right to marry.
"We should have the courage and conviction to speak out against this decision. The people of Iowa reject the redefinition of marriage, and I pledge to defend the bond of marriage, as I have consistently done in the past," the GOP presidential hopeful from Kansas said in a statement Friday. "This decision shows how important it is to elect leaders who will stand for marriage and who will appoint judges that will not legislate from the bench. We need to rebuild the family and renew the culture, not redefine marriage."
On Thursday, a Polk County judge in Iowa temporarily cleared the way for same-sex couples across the state to apply for marriage licenses in Polk County. He ruled that Iowa's 1998 Defense of Marriage Act, which allowed marriage only between a man and a woman, violated the constitutional rights of due process and equal protection of six gay couples who had sued.
On Friday, the county recorder stopped accepting marriage applications after the judge stayed his ruling pending a county appeal of the ruling to the Iowa Supreme Court.
- CNN Political Desk Editor Jamie Crawford