Federal Judge Rules to Keep Trump on New Hampshire Ballot Ahead of Primary

Former President Donald Trump at a campaign stop in Rochester, N.H., on Jan. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

A federal judge in New Hampshire has ruled against an effort to block former President Donald Trump from the state’s ballots, coming just before the state holds its Republican primary.

The ruling, posted by Republican lawyer and former California GOP Chairwoman Harmeet Dhillon, was handed down on Jan. 19 by U.S. District Judge Samantha D. Elliott against long shot Republican presidential candidate John Anthony Castro, a Texas resident who filed similarly rejected cases in other states.

The judge noted that Mr. Castro brought a claim in New Hampshire “nearly identical” to his petition to the U.S. Supreme Court, alleging that the former president is ineligible to appear on the state’s ballots because of Section 3 of the Constitution’s 14th Amendment, which bars candidates from running for office if they engaged in an “insurrection” or “rebellion” against the United States.

Mr. Castro alleged that because he is a presidential candidate in New Hampshire, President Trump’s inclusion on the ballot injures him in the form of a “diminution of votes and/or fundraising.”

In dismissing the case, Judge Elliott said that Mr. Castro “conceded” at an evidentiary hearing “that he would not win any delegates even if the secretary of state were prevented from counting votes in Trump’s favor” and that Mr. Castro has “not proven redressability,” a legal term that means a court will be able to make up for or correct an injury of the plaintiff.

His motion for a preliminary motion in New Hampshire was then denied by the judge and all other pending motions in the case were rendered moot before she dismissed his case.

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After the order, Ms. Dhillon hailed the judge’s decision on social media, saying that it represents a win for President Trump: “Congrats to the election litigation team yet again!”

As of the morning of Jan. 22, Mr. Castro had not issued a public response to the decision. The Epoch Times contacted Mr. Castro for comment in response to the New Hampshire judge’s decision but received none by press time.

However, when other judges in various states denied his challenges, he claimed that the judiciary is acting in bad faith against him. In a statement that responded to a Nevada judge’s decision to reject his lawsuit in mid-January, Mr. Castro told The Epoch Times that “federal courts are so fearful to address these vital issues that they’re not considering the impact of their decision.”

“Judges are supposed to apply the law without fear or favor,” he wrote, adding that the “federal judiciary has failed at this with these cases.”

The ruling comes as New Hampshire is slated to hold its presidential primary on Jan. 23 and days after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, dropped out of the 2024 race and endorsed President Trump. The only other major candidate President Trump is facing in the GOP primary is former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, although recent polls have shown that the 45th president’s lead in the state is only growing against Ms. Haley.

President Trump won the Iowa caucuses last week; Mr. DeSantis got second place and Ms. Haley third. A RealClearPolitics average of recent surveys shows that the former president currently has 66.1 percent support nationally, and Ms. Haley obtained 11.5 percent.

Some political analysts have speculated that New Hampshire could be the best chance for Ms. Haley to pull off an upset against President Trump. New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu endorsed her weeks ago.

Other Challenges

Although most courts and judges have rejected challenges to prevent President Trump from appearing on state ballots, the Colorado Supreme Court issued a 4–3 ruling about a month ago that the former president cannot appear on the state’s ballot because his actions related to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol breach constitute engaging in an insurrection. He has never been charged with or convicted of engaging in an insurrection.

Since then, the former president’s legal team has appealed the Colorado high court’s ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court, which agreed to take up the case. And last week, President Trump wrote on Truth Social that he believes that the nine justices will render a decision favorable to him, arguing that doing otherwise would take away the will of voters.

In Maine, the Democratic secretary of state unilaterally decided to block the former president from appearing on the ballot days after the Colorado ruling. That decision was also appealed to the Supreme Court.

Aside from the ballot lawsuits, President Trump faces other legal hurdles as he tries to take back the White House for a second time. In multiple jurisdictions, the former president was charged with various state and federal crimes, including relating to allegations regarding his activity after the 2020 election, payments made during the 2016 campaign, and his handling of alleged classified records after he left office.

The former president has pleaded not guilty to all the charges, describing them as election interference.