That’s not going to stop Trump.
In a recent development, a judge in Illinois made a decisive ruling on Wednesday, indicating that former President Donald Trump ought to be excluded from the state’s primary election ballot, citing the unsettling events of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Judge Tracie R. Porter of the Cook County Circuit Court issued the order, albeit temporarily pending an expected appeal, with the primary scheduled for March 19.
Porter’s ruling explicitly stated that, “due to participation in the insurrection on January 6, 2021, … his name warrants removal from the ballot.”
A spokesperson for the Trump campaign, Steven Cheung, vehemently criticized the decision, labeling it as “unconstitutional” and announcing intentions for an appeal. Additionally, Cheung launched a scathing attack on Porter, branding her as a “partisan Democratic judge.” Shortly after the ruling, the Trump campaign also initiated efforts to fundraise based on the decision.
The motion to remove Trump from the primary ballot was initially brought forward by a group of five petitioners on Jan. 4, the same day he submitted his filings for ballot inclusion, as outlined in Porter’s ruling. The petitioners sought judicial review from the Cook County Circuit Court on the matter. Notably, Illinois joins Colorado and Maine as the third state to declare Trump ineligible for the primary ballot, with similar rulings in those states also temporarily halted.
These rulings invoke the disqualification clause of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, Section 3, a provision dating back to the Civil War era. This clause stipulates that individuals who have taken an oath to uphold the Constitution and have engaged in insurrection cannot hold public office. However, it remains ambiguous whether this provision extends to presidents. The U.S. Supreme Court recently heard arguments on the Colorado case but has yet to render a verdict, with Colorado’s primary scheduled for Tuesday.
Judge Porter referenced the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision multiple times in her ruling, underscoring her alignment with their deliberations and the gravity of her conclusions.
It’s noteworthy that Porter, a Democrat, was appointed to the circuit court by the Illinois Supreme Court in 2021 to fill a vacancy and subsequently won election the following year. Cook County, encompassing Chicago, stands as the most populous county in the state.
