Colorado’s Republican Party asked the US Supreme Court on Wednesday to review the state’s top court’s ruling last week that disqualified former President Donald Trump from the GOP primary ballot because of his role in the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol by his supporters.
The appeal effectively extends the stay of the 4-3 ruling from Colorado’s highest court, which initially paused its decision until January 4 but now remains indefinite until the top justices review the case. Trump’s legal team is also expected to file an appeal in the coming days.
Consequently, the former president and GOP frontrunner will remain on the ballot for the state’s Republican primary on Super Tuesday, March 5.
“The Republican Party has been irreparably harmed” by the state’s highest court decision that the 14th Amendment’s insurrection clause applies to Trump, and his efforts to repeatedly thwart the 2020 election results, argues the petition, obtained by the New York Times.
“The drastic effects of the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision on the 2024 primary election necessitates this court’s immediate review,” lawyers for the Colorado Republican Party said in the 11th-hour filing. “The state has interfered in the primary election by unreasonably restricting the party’s ability to select its candidates.”
The petition came hours after the Michigan Supreme Court rejected a similar constitutional lawsuit, allowing Trump to remain on the ballot.
The nation’s highest court has yet to rule on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868 after the Civil War, to prevent former Confederates who “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” from returning to public office or government.
Two of the plaintiff’s lawyers, Jay Sekulow and Jordan Sekulow, urged the justices to take the case with a sense of urgency. “There is an avalanche of similar cases being filed around the country,” they said in a statement, “so the Supreme Court’s definitive and prompt review in this matter is essential.”
Trump lashed out against the 30-plus states seeking to disqualify him from running for the White House, calling the cases “election interference,” according to CBS News. Earlier in the day, he cheered a ruling in Michigan that would allow him to remain on the ballot, at least for the primary, in that state.
“The Colorado people have embarrassed our nation with what they did,” Trump said on Sean Hannity’s radio show.
Terry Moseley
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