The Colorado Supreme Court disqualified Trump from the state’s ballot on Tuesday evening, siding with a lower state court’s ruling that the 45th president violated the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution on January 6, 2021. The decision does not go into effect until January 2024, giving Trump’s campaign weeks to appeal.
Derek Muller, an election law professor at the University of Notre Dame’s Law School, told the Associated Press that the state supreme court’s decision poses a “major threat” to Trump’s 2024 campaign.
“I think it may embolden other state courts or secretaries to act now that the bandage has been ripped off,” he said. Colorado was the first state to bar Trump from being on the ballot, but it’s not the only one that’s seen similar legal challenges.
The Minnesota Supreme Court, for example, was presented earlier in the year with a similar opportunity, though it ruled in favor of Trump.
The state of Michigan also received a challenge from the same group behind Minnesota’s attempt: Free Speech For People. Though a state court previously ruled in favor of Trump, the group appealed the case on Monday to the Michigan Supreme Court, which has four Democratic-leaning judges along with three Republican ones.
Trump being barred from Michigan’s ballot would be a major boon for the Democratic Party, especially if President Joe Biden is Trump’s opposition, as Biden only won the state in 2020 by less than 3 percentage points.
Following the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision, experts — Muller included — told Business Insider there’s a high likelihood the US Supreme Court will take up the case, though it’s unclear how the majority-conservative court will rule.
Meanwhile, California may also be the next state to ban former President Trump from its primary ballot over 14th Amendment concerns. Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis (D) requested Wednesday the state look into “every legal option” to do just that.
The move follows a ruling from the Colorado Supreme Court on Tuesday that affirmed Trump engaged in insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, by inflaming his supporters with false claims of election fraud and directing them to the Capitol —
preventing him from a second White House term under the 14th Amendment’s “insurrection clause.” The state court’s decision kicked Trump off the state primary ballot, barring a challenge from the federal Supreme Court.
“Based on the Colorado Supreme Court’s ruling … I urge you to explore every legal option to remove former President Donald Trump from California’s 2024 presidential primary ballot,” Kounalakis wrote to California Secretary of State Shirley Weber (D).
“This decision is about honoring the rule of law in our country and protecting the fundamental pillars of democracy,” she continued.
The Colorado ruling on Tuesday upheld a lower court ruling that Trump was responsible for the Jan. 6 Capitol riots and the violence that took place. But it overturned part of the lower ruling that the 14th Amendment didn’t apply to presidents, instead determining it did.
The procedural side of the argument, whether the clause applies to the presidency, will likely be the center of the expected U.S. Supreme Court case over the decision.
Kounalakis said that after the Colorado case, California must now also determine the former president’s eligibility on the same grounds.
“California must stand on the right side of history,” she said. “The Colorado decision can be the basis for a similar decision here in our state. The constitution is clear: you must be 35 years old to and not be an insurrectionist.”
