Salem, OR, December 21, 2023—Tuesday’s ruling by the Colorado Supreme Court barring former President Donald J. Trump from the primary ballot in Colorado is an unprecedented attempt to take the nominating process out of the hands of Colorado voters and put it into the hands of the judicial elite.
Make no mistake: former President Trump has never been charged with nor convicted of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, the crime mentioned in the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which forms the basis of this ruling. No zeal for Constitutional law drives this case and others like it, but rather the fear that American voters might nominate a candidate unacceptable to the plaintiffs.
This is the kind of ruling characteristic of puppet courts in third-world dictatorships, not of those in a democratic republic. No wonder that upon hearing this ruling, the president of El Salvador Nayib Bukele said on X, “The United States has lost its ability to lecture any other country about “democracy”.”
The same group that filed similar court challenges in Minnesota and Michigan filed a challenge in Oregon earlier this month. Rather than taking their arguments against the candidate to the American people, they want the courts to take the decision out of the hands of voters entirely.
On Wednesday, California’s Lieutenant Gov. Eleni Kounalakis urged her Secretary of State “to explore every legal option to remove former President Trump from CA’s 2024 presidential primary ballot.” Like the Colorado ruling, this transparent, last-ditch attempt to employ the courts to limit the people’s choices is an ominous development in electoral politics.
Republican National Committee lawyers have successfully argued against this election interference in both Minnesota and Michigan. The Colorado ruling will be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court in the coming days. The RNC and Oregon Republican Party will continue to fight for the right of our party members to nominate the candidate of their choosing without interference from judges or non-party-member activists intent on limiting the people’s voices and votes.
Tracy Honl
Republican National Committeewoman – Oregon