New Mexico suit challenges Trump's ballot eligibility

Jan. 1—New Mexico is one of more than a dozen states weighing legal challenges to Donald Trump's eligibility for office because of his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Two states have made historic decisions to remove Trump from their primary ballots after state officials found his actions violated the anti-insurrection clause in the 14th Amendment.

In New Mexico, attorneys are waiting for a ruling from a federal judge following a Nov. 28 hearing in U.S. District Court of New Mexico.

John Anthony Castro, a little-known Republican presidential candidate, petitioned a federal judge in September to declare Trump ineligible to appear on the state's election ballot.

Castro has filed similar actions in 25 other states, of which nine remain active, according to the website Lawfare. In others — Arizona and West Virginia — the suits are under appeal. Additional suits are pending in other states.

The New Mexico suit names Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver, who on Dec. 22 certified Trump and four other presidential candidates to appear on the state's June 4 primary ballots. She took the action after a Dec. 22 meeting with New Mexico's major political parties.

A spokesman for Toulouse Oliver said Friday that, in regard to the 14th Amendment arguments, "these are constitutional issues and it is not the Secretary of State's role to make this kind of a legal determination in New Mexico."

No qualified candidate would be excluded from the 2024 ballot "unless a court with jurisdiction made a legal finding and ordered that person to be excluded," spokesman Alex Curtas said in a written statement.

Toulouse Oliver is awaiting a decision by U.S. District Judge Matthew Garcia of New Mexico in the Castro lawsuit, the statement said.

In the Nov. 28 hearing, "the court declared from the bench that it 'was strongly inclined to grant the motion to dismiss' but an order has not yet been entered," it said.

Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows on Thursday disqualified Trump from that state's primary election ballot. Bellows, a Democrat, argued that Trump incited an insurrection when he spread false claims about voter fraud in the 2020 election and then urged his supporters to march on the U.S. Capitol.

And Colorado's Supreme Court disqualified Trump from that state's primary ballot on Dec. 19, making him the first candidate in U.S. history to be deemed ineligible for the presidency for engaging in an insurrection.

Trump has appealed the Colorado ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Colorado Republican Party also appealed the ruling on Wednesday.

Both decisions were based on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which states that no one may "hold any office, civil or military" who previously took an oath "as an officer of the United States" to support the U.S. Constitution.

The 14th Amendment was adopted in 1868, shortly after the Civil War, in part to prevent former Confederates from holding office.

Castro said he became motivated to take action while watching televised coverage of the Jan. 6 attack and seeing images of rioters carrying zip ties.

"My initial thought was, they're going to take hostages," Castro said Friday in a phone interview. The rioters had the intention of occupying Congress to block certification of the Electoral College results, he said.

"I honestly got chills up my spine," Castro said. "I just could not, in good conscience, not do anything."

Castro's lawsuit asks the judge to issue a temporary restraining order that would block Toulouse Oliver from accepting Trump on a state primary or general election ballot.

"Because the goal of the insurrection was to thwart the peaceful transfer of power via the Electoral College's certification of the election results," Trump violated the anti-insurrectionist clause of the 14th Amendment, the suit alleges.

Attorneys say a central issue of the case centers on Castro's standing to file a lawsuit in New Mexico.

Castro said he intends to be formally recognized as a write-in presidential candidate on New Mexico's primary and general election ballots.

He argues that Trump, "who is constitutionally ineligible to hold office," will "siphon off" votes and contributions from Castro's campaign.

Trump, who is represented by New Mexico attorney Mark Caruso, responded in a motion asking the judge to dismiss the case.

"To put it charitably, (Castro) has never won an election, has no support in any poll, has received no campaign donations, and been endorsed by no one," Caruso wrote in the motion.

Caruso said in an interview Friday that the suit may be tossed because Castro lacks standing.

"Our biggest argument is that he has no standing," Caruso said. "He is not a legitimate candidate for the Republican primary. That was the issue the judge was most focused on."

In his motion, Caruso also took issue with Castro's argument that Trump engaged in an "insurrection" as defined by the 14th Amendment.

Congress at the time considered someone an insurrectionist "if he led uniformed troops in battle against the United States, but not if he or she merely voted to support succession with violent force," the motion said.

"Congress did not intend that provision to encompass those who merely encouraged an insurrection, but instead limited its breadth to those who actively participated in one," it said.