Oregon Supreme Court Declines to Hear Trump Ballot Challenge - Yahoo News

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(Bloomberg) -- The Oregon Supreme Court declined to hear a challenge seeking to keep Donald Trump off of the Republican primary and general election ballots in the state.

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The court said in a statement that it expects that the US Supreme Court will resolve the dispute. It gave the five Oregon voters behind the case the option to file a new petition in light of any ruling by the country’s highest court.

The announcement follows a decision by the US Supreme Court to review a Colorado Supreme Court ruling that concluded Trump engaged in insurrection by inciting the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot and gave up his right to run for president again.

“Today’s decision in Oregon was the correct one,” Steven Cheung, a Trump spokesperson, said in a statement. “President Trump urges the swift dismissal of all remaining, bad-faith, election interference 14th Amendment ballot challenges.” Cheung said the suits seek to “disenfranchise millions of American voters and deny them their right to vote for the candidate of their choice.”

Read More: The 14th Amendment Challenge to Trump, Explained

The ballot challenges, which are playing out throughout the country, concern Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which says a person who took an oath to support the Constitution and then “engaged in insurrection” is banned from holding office again.

Trump argued in an appeal that the clause excludes the president, that he didn’t engage in insurrection and that only Congress has the authority to disqualify him.

The Oregon petitioners had asked the state Supreme Court to direct Oregon’s secretary of state to disqualify Trump based on the 14th amendment. The secretary argued that she had no authority under Oregon law at the primary election stage to consider the issue.

Many of the ballot challenges have been brought by John Anthony Castro, who is seeking the Republican nomination for 2024. On Friday, a federal judge in New Mexico dismissed one of the suits, explaining that Castro isn’t a truly viable presidential candidate so wouldn’t be harmed by Trump.

“Castro is not in true competition with President Trump for votes or financial contributions,” the Biden-appointed judge wrote.

--With assistance from Erik Larson.

(Updates with details on dismissal of New Mexico ballot challenge)