The Minnesota Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected an attempt to block Donald Trump from the state’s GOP primary ballot next year based on the 14th Amendment’s “insurrection clause” but said the challengers can try again to block him from the general election ballot if the former president wins the Republican nomination.
The ruling is a victory for Trump, in terms of keeping his name on the ballot for the 2024 GOP primary, where he has a commanding lead, according to recent polling. However, the Minnesota justices didn’t go as far as Trump’s lawyers wanted, which was to keep him on the ballot for the primary and general.
“There is no state statute that prohibits a major political party from placing on the presidential nomination primary ballot, or sending delegates to the national convention supporting, a candidate who is ineligible to hold office,” the high court wrote in a four-page ruling. Therefore, the court dismissed the case, but said it wouldn’t stopping the challengers from “bringing a petition raising their claims as to the general election.”
In a similar case in Colorado, closing arguments are slated for November 15.
