Denver U.S. District Judge Wiley Daniel clipped the wings of the self-styled “Hamilton electors” today, ruling they must cast their votes in the Electoral College as directed by state law-i.e., for the presidential candidate who won the popular vote in Colorado.

Two Colorado electors, Robert Nemanich and Polly Baca, had sued in federal court last week to block a state law they said violated their rights by requiring them to vote as the electorate voted in the presidential race on Nov. 8. The two plaintiffs wanted the court to block the law’s enforcement.

That of course would have meant the plaintiffs would not have had to vote for Hillary Clinton-ironic because the long-shot legal gambit actually was launched by Democrats seeking to mount an insurrection among fellow electors against Donald Trump. Parallel efforts sought to undermine similar laws in 28 other states in the hope enough Republican electors would join forces with Democrats, reject Trump and elect a presumably more palatable Republican when the Electoral College convenes Dec. 19.

Daniel never seemed to buy into the plaintiffs’ arguments at today’s hearing and at one point even said it struck him as a “political stunt.”

Attorneys for the state had argued that the Colorado electorate would suffer irreparable harm if the plaintiffs got their way. Voters, they contended, had cast their ballots on Election Day under the reasonable assumption the state’s emissaries to the Electoral College would in fact do their job and vote as instructed by the public.

Daniel’s ruling allows the plaintiffs to proceed with their suit against the state law may proceed, but it denies the plaintiffs’ request for an injunction against its enforcement while the the merits of the case moved forward. Daniel indicated he was refusing to block the law today because the lawsuit itself has a slim chance of success.