As we enter the 2024 election year, challenges to former President Donald Trump’s eligibility as a candidate in 2024 have been filed in about half the states across the nation. And it’s still unclear whether state courts and executives have power over political party primaries for the presidential candidate.
The legal theory behind the challenges—that President Trump is ineligible to hold office again under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment—began circulating as early as Jan. 7, 2021, with advocacy groups sending letters to election officials in all 50 states, alleging the president was party to an “insurrection” at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. This reasoning has become the basis of dozens of ongoing lawsuits, some of which President Trump has been actively litigating for months.
The 14th Amendment was ratified after the Civil War and conferred citizenship and equal rights to all persons born and naturalized in the United States, extending the rights to former slaves. Section 3 was written to prevent those who abandoned their offices to join the Confederacy from returning without a two-thirds vote by Congress.
Two deadlines may soon see these challenges come to an end: the appeal of the Colorado Supreme Court disqualification ruling via a petition to the U.S. Supreme Court by Jan. 4, and state deadlines to certify and print the primary ballots.
Alabama
Primary: March 5
No challenges have been brought.
Alaska
CAUCUS
Caucus: March 5
John Anthony Castro has sued Alaska Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom and President Donald Trump in federal court, arguing that President Trump cannot be considered a primary candidate in Alaska because he should be disqualified under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, referring to the events of Jan. 6, 2021, as an insurrection. The case is pending, but summonses have not been issued.
Mr. Castro, a little-known Republican presidential candidate from Texas, has brought the majority of the suits, arguing he shouldn’t be made to compete with an ineligible candidate.
Arizona
Primary: March 19
Mr. Castro sued Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes and President Trump in federal court, arguing that President Trump cannot appear on the primary ballot due to disqualification under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.
On Dec. 5, President Trump’s motion to dismiss was granted. Mr. Castro appealed the case in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, but the ballot certification deadline for Arizona passed on Dec. 11, rendering the case moot. President Trump’s name will be on the primary ballot.
After the Colorado Supreme Court ruled to disqualify President Trump as a candidate, Arizona State Rep. Cory McGarr, a Republican, joined lawmakers in Georgia and Pennsylvania in proposing legislation to remove President Joe Biden from the ballot as a direct response, alleging “insurrection” for the president’s actions regarding the southern border.
Attorney Eric Olson (R) argues before the Colorado Supreme Court in Denver on Dec. 6, 2023. (David Zalubowski/AP Photo, Pool)