California secretary of state Shirley Weber (D.) decided to keep former president Donald Trump on the state’s 2024 primary ballot, rejecting a request to remove him over his alleged violation of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which forbids individuals who have “engaged in insurrection” from seeking federal office.
Weber certified the list of presidential candidates for California’s March 5 primary election Thursday night, with Trump’s name shown among the nine Republican candidates to appear on the state’s ballot for the GOP primary. The Democratic official did not release an official statement accompanying the certified list, but she did opt to leave the former president on the ballot, despite increasing calls for him to be disqualified from a second term due to his perceived involvement in the January 6 Capitol riot.
Weber’s press office did not respond to National Review’s request for comment.
In a letter dated December 20, California lieutenant governor Eleni Kounalakis (D.) urged Weber to “explore every legal option to remove former President Donald Trump from California’s 2024 presidential primary ballot” in light of the Colorado supreme court’s ballot decision. The request came a day after the court voted 4–3 to disqualify Trump from appearing on Colorado’s ballot, claiming he violated the “insurrection clause” of the 14th Amendment.
“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 and not be an insurrectionist,” Kounalakis wrote.
Two days later, Weber responded to Kounalakis’s correspondence. At the time, she did not indicate her final decision on the matter but noted that her “office will continue to assess all our options” as the legal situation concerning Trump’s ballot eligibility develops.
“I am guided by my commitment to follow the rule of law,” Weber wrote to Kounalakis. “As such, it is incumbent upon my office to ensure that any action undertaken regarding any candidate’s inclusion or omission from our ballots be grounded firmly in the laws and processes in place in California and our Constitution.”
The California secretary of state’s decision came as Maine secretary of state Shenna Bellows ruled that Trump is ineligible to become president again, therefore removing him from the state’s primary ballot.
“The events of January 6, 2021 were unprecedented and tragic,” Bellows wrote in her Thursday night decision. “They were an attack not only upon the Capitol and government officials, but also an attack on the rule of law. The evidence here demonstrates that they occurred at the behest of, and with the knowledge and support of, the outgoing President. The U.S. Constitution does not tolerate an assault on the foundations of our government, and [Maine law] requires me to act in response.”
The Trump campaign vowed it would appeal the Maine ruling. Meanwhile, Trump is currently set to appear on the Colorado ballot while the state GOP appeals the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.