Connecticut’s secretary of state announced the names of Republican and Democratic presidential candidates who will appear on the state’s primary election in April, and former President Donald Trump’s name was on the list.
For Democrats, President Joe Biden as well as challengers Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.), Cenk Uygur, and Marianne Williamson will appear on the state ballots. The Republican primary ballot, meanwhile, will feature President Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, and Ryan Binkley.
Connecticut Secretary of State Stephanie Thomas, a Democrat, said that by Feb. 27, she will publicly disclose the order of names for the primary ballots.
“That section requires that the secretary place on the presidential primary ballot any candidate who has been generally and seriously advocated or recognized according to reports in the national or state news media,” Ms. Thomas said.
During the announcement, Ms. Thomas said that her lawyers evaluated whether the 45th president should be barred from the ballot under an interpretation of a provision of the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment that prohibits candidates from running if they engaged in an “insurrection or rebellion” against the government.
In recent weeks, the Colorado Supreme Court and Maine secretary of state moved to bar President Trump from the ballot before the former president appealed the decisions to the U.S. Supreme Court. Other judges, meanwhile, have dismissed a variety of similar lawsuits against the former commander-in-chief in other states.
However, even after those decisions were made, Ms. Thomas publicly said before Christmas Day last year that President Trump would appear on Connecticut’s ballot.
“I don’t know what other states are going to do, but I do remind people that laws are different in every state,” she said, adding Maine’s secretary of state differs from Connecticut’s. In Maine, the secretary is appointed by the state Legislature, whereas Connecticut voters decide who the secretary of state is.
“So their laws recognize her as part of the representative body, and that’s why she may have been able to make that decision,” Ms. Thomas said, again saying that a court would have to make a decision on President Trump’s eligibility.
Like in other states, there have been coordinated efforts to prevent the former president from Connecticut’s ballots. For example, New Haven City Alderman Troy Streater sent a letter in November to Ms. Thomas to bar him from the ballot under similar interpretations of the 14th Amendment, which was written shortly after the ending of the U.S. Civil War more than 160 years ago.
‘Easy Decision’
The Supreme Court this month agreed to take up the Colorado court decision, and some legal analysts have said the high court will likely rule in favor of President Trump, although some have speculated the justices will rule that the former president’s due process rights were violated. The U.S. high court has never ruled on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.“But I don’t think the Supreme Court would [agree with decisions to keep him from ballots] because you can’t take the vote,“ he said. ”You know, I’m leading in every poll ... I’m leading the remaining Republicans … they’re barely hanging on. How can you possibly take the vote away?”
He also praised the “three great justices” he appointed and “other great justices up there.” During his term in the White House, President Trump nominated Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett to the bench.
