Now that two states have officially removed former President Donald Trump from primary ballots, several others are still considering whether he engaged in insurrection during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and if he should be barred from other races heading into 2024.
Colorado and Maine this month became the first in the nation’s history to find a presidential candidate, Trump, is ineligible to run for a second term under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, a provision of the Constitution used in the Civil War era to bar those who engage in insurrection from running for office.
TRUMP CAN APPEAR ON CALIFORNIA BALLOTS AS DEMOCRATIC OFFICIAL BREAKS WITH COLORADO AND MAINE
At least 33 states have seen similar lawsuits — which have either been dismissed or are still pending — to keep Trump off the ballot. The most formidable challenges thus far have been filed by liberal groups such as Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and Free Speech for People.
While the Colorado Supreme Court took the nation by surprise as the first state to remove Trump by a 4-3 ruling on Dec. 19, other states that have confronted similar challenges, such as Michigan and Minnesota, have been unsuccessful. An appeal has already been filed to the U.S. Supreme Court by the Republican Party in the state, and Trump is expected to file a petition by next week.
Maine’s Secretary of State Shenna Bellows (D) also made the unprecedented decision to remove Trump on Wednesday, a move Trump has vowed he will appeal to the state’s Superior Court.
Both Colorado and Maine’s decisions came with automatic holds that will likely remain in place until the U.S. Supreme Court decides whether to take up the appeal from Colorado. Legal experts have said a decision to keep Trump on a state primary ballot could effectively end the bulk of the ongoing or pending challenges against him across the nation.
In the meantime, some legal experts now suspect that the next state Supreme Court to weigh on a 14th Amendment lawsuit could be in Oregon. There, Free Speech for People sued the Democratic secretary of state earlier this month for making the decision to keep Trump on the upcoming primary ballot.
“The next place to watch for action in addition to appealing out from Colorado and in Maine: the Oregon Supreme Court,” Anthony Michael Kreis posted to X, formerly known as Twitter.
Free Speech for People’s legal director Ron Fein has said while the highest court “may have the final word,” his group intends to challenge Democratic Oregon Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade’s decision to keep Trump on the primary ballot there.
Fein’s group wrote in a Dec. 8 petition to the state Supreme Court asking the court to weigh the matter “before the late March 2024 finalization of the 2024 Oregon primary election ballots.”
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It is not immediately clear when the Oregon Supreme Court will act on this petition. The Washington Examiner contacted a representative for Free Speech for People.
Meanwhile, Trump survived another effort to remove him from the primary ballot in Wisconsin on Thursday after officials there declined to review a complaint attempting to remove him under the 14th Amendment.
