Former President Donald Trump will appear on the primary ballot in Washington state following an order from Thurston County Superior Court Judge Mary Sue Wilson.
Judge Wilson dismissed the challenge to President Trump’s eligibility on Thursday, after Kitsap County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Bassett dismissed the same challenge on Tuesday, saying the petition should have been brought in Thurston County, which encompasses the state capital.
Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs praised the ruling.
“I am grateful that Judge Wilson ruled in such a timely and well-considered fashion, and that she recognized that I and my staff have been working in full compliance with state law governing the Presidential Primary,” he stated. “We will continue working with our partners in county elections offices to get all the necessary materials for this election to every Washington voter.”
The state primary will be held March 12, and officials have a Jan. 27 deadline to print ballots, which will first be mailed to overseas and military voters.
The Trump Campaign praised the decision as well.
“Washington’s decision mirrors similar decisions in over a dozen federal courts as well as state courts in Michigan, Minnesota and Oregon,” stated campaign spokesman Steven Cheung. “Although the judge made the correct decision in this matter, we remain steadfast in our opposition to these cases, which are orchestrated by Democrat Party allies of failed president Crooked Joe Biden and we resolve to fight any and all remaining bad-faith, election-interfering sham cases wherever they reside.”
Eight Kitsap County voters had filed the petition on Jan. 10, a day after the secretary announced the primary candidate lists.
The Democratic Party candidates are President Joe Biden, Dean Phillips, and Marianne Williamson. The Republican Party candidates are President Trump, Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy, and Chris Christie.
The petitioners argued that President Trump was ineligible as a candidate under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, because Jan. 6, 2021, constituted an “insurrection.” Under the election statute in the complaint, a hearing was promptly scheduled.
Nationwide Challenges
Dozens of these kinds of challenges have been brought in jurisdictions all across the country the past several months and continue to be filed, though they have largely been unsuccessful.
Recent rulings have highlighted the imminent decision by the Supreme Court.
In Maine, a court stayed the state secretary’s decision to disqualify President Trump as a candidate, ordering her to await the high court’s decision and act accordingly within 30 days of that ruling.
“Because a decision by the United States Supreme Court regarding the Fourteenth Amendment issue may resolve one or more contentions that relators make in the Oregon proceeding, the Oregon Supreme Court denied their petition for mandamus,” the order reads.
The Oregon Supreme Court noted that it was declining to take the case “for now” and it was only dismissed without prejudice, meaning local voters could file another petition should the Supreme Court leave issues unresolved for Oregon’s elections.
