The trial over an effort in Minnesota to keep former President Donald Trump off of the 2024 ballot began Thursday at the state Supreme Court as a similar case continued in Colorado.
The lawsuits in both states allege Trump should be barred from the 2024 ballot for his conduct leading up to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. They argue Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results violated Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which says no one who has “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” after swearing an oath to support and defend the Constitution can hold office.
A group of Minnesota voters, represented by the election reform group Free Speech for People, sued in September to remove Trump from the state ballot under the 14th Amendment provision. The petitioners include former Minnesota Secretary of State Joan Growe and former state Supreme Court Justice Paul H. Anderson.
I suppose it doesn’t. They could call a vote on it at any point. But I don’t imagine they would unless provoked by a ruling. If they didn’t want him to lose in a single state, they could call it now and those state cases would go away. If they are waiting for that, then they know it will be appealed and would likely wait for the SCOTUS. Because why not? Why spend that political capital when it is likely to be unnecessary. MAGA hurt them a lot in the midterms.
But you are right. They can technically call it. I should have been more clear. Given that they haven’t yet, they are likely waiting for outcomes if they are going to at all. It’s also possible that aside from the MAGA nutjob faithfuls (looking at you MTG) they really want him to be done. And even if they don’t, to stop before it had a supreme court ruling would be basically admitting he was part of an insurrection, but you want to support him anyways.