Former President Donald J. Trump (left) with West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey. | File photo
CHARLESTON — West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey’s office has asked to intervene in a federal case that seeks to exclude former President Donald J. Trump from the ballot in West Virginia’s 2024 primary and general elections.
This case is one of many as activists across the country sue to prevent Trump from running in the 2024 election.
Earlier this month, another GOP presidential candidate, John Anthony Castro, filed a complaint against Trump and West Virginia Secretary of State Mac Warner, whose office oversees elections in that state. Last week, the West Virginia Republican Party filed a motion to intervene in the case to support Trump’s presence on the ballot.
In his complaint, Castro cites a section of the 14th Amendment that states Trump is ineligible because he “engaged in or provided ‘aid or comfort’ to the insurrection.”
“Excluding a qualified candidate from the ballot denies citizens the ability to choose who represents them at every level of government and impedes a fair and free electoral process,” Morrisey said in connection with the October 2 motion filed by his office. “Every qualified candidate is eligible to appear on the ballot unless legally disqualified, and we will fully defend the rights of West Virginia and the rights of voters and candidates.”
Morrisey, a Republican, hopes to intervene on behalf of the state to ensure West Virginians have “the right to vote for the candidate of their choice.”
Warner, also a Republican, previously issued a statement saying he “will vigorously defend the Constitution to ensure that every qualified candidate … has the right to seek his party’s nomination in the West Virginia primary until the court directs otherwise.”
“Any qualified candidate, including Donald Trump, has the constitutional right to have his or her name on the ballot in the West Virginia primary unless legally disqualified,” Warner said. “I want to deprive voters of the opportunity to nominate a candidate to be the next President of the United States. States should not be taken lightly.
“As West Virginia’s chief election official, every eligible candidate and registered voter can have confidence that I will uphold and enforce the Constitution.”
Castro and others have filed dozens of similar lawsuits across the country — and filed an injunction with the U.S. Supreme Court — arguing that Trump is barred from running for office because of his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. That lawsuit cited a rarely used clause of the 14th Amendment that bars anyone from running for office who took an oath to the U.S. Constitution and then “joined in an insurrection.”
Castro is also the Republican presidential candidate. It is seeking an injunction restraining Warner from accepting and/or processing Trump ballot access records.
Trump is the GOP frontrunner despite facing 91 criminal charges in four indictments, two of which involve his alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election. He pleaded not guilty to all charges. Trump was not charged with participating in the insurrection in any of the cases.
In its motion, the state Republican Party is asking the court to allow it to intervene in the case and make an argument for why Trump should be allowed to vote.
“Over the past several months, there has been a concerted national effort to prevent President Trump from appearing on the ballot in 2024.” – WVGOP chairwoman Elgine McArdle announced in a press release. “This initiative has now come to West Virginia. The West Virginia Republican Party represents an association of nearly half a million registered Republican voters in this state, and as chairman of the Republican Party, I cannot and will not stand idly by while our voters are deprived of their choice in the presidential election. “
Shortly after the state Republican Party filed, Castro filed a dissent and dissent, arguing the party lacked standing because Trump is not the GOP nominee in West Virginia. He also says allowing the Republican Party to intervene could violate federal campaign finance laws.
Trump won nearly 70 percent of the vote in West Virginia in 2020 and remains popular in the state. McArdle called Castro’s challenge “the latest attack on President Trump, his campaign and his supporters.”
“Republican voters want to change the status quo of high taxes, runaway inflation, rampant crime, woke ideology and open borders,” McArdle said. “They have sometimes turned to President Trump because he has a proven track record of fighting for a better economy, energy independence, job creation, mighty borders and conservative, common-sense policies that deliver real results for the American people.
“Voters in West Virginia and across the country deserve the opportunity to vote for their presidential candidate, whether the establishment and left-wing lawyers like it or not. What we are seeing is shameful and wrong, but we will proudly enter this dispute to ensure victory for President Trump, our voters and the rule of law.”
McArdle, also a lawyer, is serving as local counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice on the request to intervene.
“We must defend the Constitution against the radical left’s outrageous and unconstitutional conspiracy against election integrity,” said Jordan Sekulow, executive director of ACLJ.
United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia, case number 2:23-cv-598
