Donald Trump continues to face an array of legal challenges aiming to remove him from the presidential ballot in several states.
The former president leads a packed field of candidates seeking the Republican nomination as he pursues a return to the White House. He has consistently been the front-runner by a considerable margin, with national polls frequently giving him 50 percent support from likely Republican voters. His closest competitors, such as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, are struggling to maintain double-digit support.
As Trump's campaign continues on a seemingly inevitable path to the 2024 nomination, some are attempting to remove him from the ballot in several states, a move that could seriously impede his efforts if successful. In lawsuits filed in these states, the challengers cite the 14th Amendment and argue that Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election results were an attempted insurrection and therefore bar him from holding elected office again. Trump has strongly dismissed the validity of these arguments.
Newsweek has reached out to Trump's office by email for further comment.
Below are the states in which challenges to Trump's place on the 2024 ballot have been mounted so far.
Colorado
Watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington has filed a lawsuit on behalf of six Colorado voters seeking to have Trump barred from the state's ballot. A trial in the case is set to begin before the end of the month and could have major ramifications for the application of the 14th Amendment in other jurisdictions.
Recently, Colorado Judicial District Court Judge Sarah Wallace has thrown out a handful of legal attempts by Trump to derail the lawsuit, writing last Friday in a ruling that the question at the heart of the case "is a pivotal issue and one best reserved for trial." She also dismissed the Colorado GOP's argument that state law makes the party itself the final authority in deciding who appears on the ballot.
Michigan
Activist Robert Davis filed a suit arguing that Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson should bar Trump from the state's ballot under the 14th Amendment. Benson, a Democrat, previously said that she believes there are "valid legal arguments being made" for keeping the former president off the ballot.
Earlier in the month, Court of Claims Judge James Robert Redford fast-tracked the case, ordering Benson to respond by October 16 and ordering Trump's team to file an amicus brief by Monday.
"I'm glad the court is treating this as an emergency and expediting it in every way," Davis told the Detroit Metro Times.
New Hampshire
John Anthony Castro, a Texas resident and long-shot candidate for the GOP presidential nomination, has filed numerous lawsuits across the country seeking to bar Trump from state ballots, including one in New Hampshire, a key early primary state.
The Granite State case is moving ahead, with a federal judge hearing arguments from both sides in court on Friday.
Arizona
Castro has also filed a suit in Arizona, but it has received a withering reaction from the state's top elections official. Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, a Democrat who has previously been open to arguments about barring Trump from the ballot, said last month that Castro's filling was premature, as candidates will not be able to file for the state's ballot until next month.
"It's not ready for judicial action. This is a waste of taxpayer money," Fontes said.
Nevertheless, a Monday hearing date was set in the case.
Other States With Lawsuits
Castro has filed lawsuits against Trump in numerous states, arguing that the former president is ineligible under the 14th Amendment and that his presence on various ballots would harm Castro's campaign.
In September, he shared a post on social media showing some of the states he had filed suits: West Virginia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Nevada, Montana, Utah, Kansas, Idaho, Oklahoma and Wyoming. While his suit in New Hampshire is moving forward, it is unclear how his efforts will fare elsewhere, especially in strongly conservative states.
Elgine McArdle, the chair of the West Virginia GOP, has joined with the American Center for Law and Justice in jointly filing a motion in opposition to Castro's suit, calling him "a fraud who believes that a West Virginia judge wouldn't be smart enough to see through his attention-seeking scam."
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Thomas Kika is a Newsweek weekend reporter based in upstate New York. His focus is reporting on crime and national ... Read more
