Jan. 13 (UPI) — The Oregon Supreme Court said it will keep Donald Trump on the state’s primary ballot while the former president appeals his ban in Colorado.
The court on Friday said it declined to hear a bid from advocacy group Free Speech for People to remove Trump from the primary ballot on the grounds that he incited the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. The court instead chose to wait while the U.S. Supreme Court deliberates on the issue.
Oregon’s ruling comes after Colorado and Maine disqualified Trump from running in the 2024 primary, citing the third clause of the 14th Amendment.
The Civil War-era provision bans officials from running for office if they have “engaged in insurrection” or have “given aid or comfort” to insurrectionists. The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments on the Colorado case on Feb. 8. It will be the first time in history the court has ever had to rule directly on the 155-year-old clause.
Liberal advocacy group Free Speech for People filed suit to remove Trump last year to the Oregon Supreme Court. The group has filed challenges to Trump’s legitimacy in five states. Challenges in Michigan and Minnesota have failed, but the suit still is under review in Illinois and Massachusetts.
“The Oregon Supreme Court’s decision not to decide is disappointing,” the group said in a statement. “Waiting until the U.S. Supreme Court issues its order only compresses the time that the Oregon Supreme Court may have to resolve the issues that may remain.”
Oregon Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade, a Democrat, asked the court to throw out the case on procedural grounds, saying Oregon law only allows her to determine Trump’s ineligibility for the general election, not the primary.
Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung praised Oregon’s decision as the “correct one,” and denounced challenges to Trump’s legitimacy as “bad-faith” and “unconstitutional.”
“President Trump will continue to fight these desperate shams, win in November and make America great again,” Cheung said.
Trump’s lawyers argued his actions on Jan. 6 do not constitute insurrection because the the clause does not apply to the presidency and relies on Congress to be enforceable.
Removing Trump from the Oregon primary might not even have much of an effect, as the state’s GOP primary is one of the last in the country, and a Republican candidate could be decided before then.
