Former US President Donald Trump | Wikipedia Commons/Gage Skidmore
CHARLESTON – A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit that sought to prevent former President Donald Trump from voting in West Virginia in next year’s primary election.
In her December 21 ruling, U.S. District Judge Irene Berger found that the case brought by John Anthony Castro of Texas lacked standing. Castro, who calls himself a presidential candidate, says Trump’s appearance on the ballot would hurt his chances of winning.
Castro cited Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which disqualifies anyone who engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the government. This section is the same as the one used earlier this week when the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that Trump could not appear on the ballot there.
Berger | Photo courtesy of
But Berger didn’t even investigate that claim, saying the evidence dispelled “any doubt that Mr. Castro’s alleged ‘campaign’ exists as a litigious rather than a voting tool.”
“Plaintiff alleged that he was a candidate for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination and expected to be on the ballot in West Virginia,” Berger wrote. “His complaint contains few specific factual allegations related to his candidacy. …
“Castro’s complaint is based on assumptions and speculation that if Mr. Trump had been removed from the ballot, his voters and associates would not have chosen other candidates, including Mr. Castro. “But he provides no details to support the conclusion that Trump voters will become Castro voters if his lawsuit is successful.”
West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, whose office intervened in the case in an effort to dismiss it, praised Berger’s ruling.
“This is a major victory for the integrity of our elections,” Morrisey said in a news release. “This lawsuit was frivolous and baseless from the beginning – it had neither legal nor factual basis.
“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.”
Trump recorded two major general election victories in West Virginia. In 2016, he obtained 68.5 percent. votes at 26.4 percent Hillary Clinton. In 2020, Trump received 68.6% of the vote compared to 29.7% of the eventual winner, President Joe Biden.
Castro has filed similar lawsuits in 27 states. In October, the U.S. Supreme Court said it would not hear Castro’s case. His lawsuits were dismissed in Florida, Rhode Island and New Hampshire. He dropped complaints in 12 other states.
Berger notes that Castro has no campaign offices or staff in West Virginia and has not advertised in the state, adding that he has “failed to meet his burden of showing the specific and special harm done to him by Trump’s allegedly unlawful anticipated presence in voting program or that any harm will be remedied by excluding Mr. Trump’s appearance on the ballot.”
Castro criticized today’s ruling on social media.
“West Virginia federal judge Irene Berger declares that I am running for president ‘in bad faith’ to ‘create’ position,” he wrote. “So if I were a corrupt POS running for president to enrich himself and the corporate oligarchs, they would consider it “good faith.” But because I’m running for president based on my principles, they say I’m doing it in “bad faith.”
Castro filed his own case. Trump was represented by Mark Adkins, Richie Heath and Will Lorensen of Bowles Rice in Charleston. Morrisey’s motion was filed by Principal Deputy Solicitor General Michael R. Williams and Deputy AG David E. Gilbert.
United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia, case number 2:23-cv-00598
