New York Democrats renew push to boot Trump from ballot after Colorado ruling
NEW YORK — New York Democrats Wednesday vowed to renew their push to get former President Donald Trump banned from the state’s presidential ballot after a bombshell ruling by the Colorado Supreme Court.
Manhattan Democratic Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal told he is “elated” by the Colorado ruling, which he predicted will boost a Democratic-led effort to get the state Board of Elections to remove Trump from the ballot in the Empire State too. "New York is next,” Hoylman-Sigal tweeted after the Colorado court ruled late Tuesday.
Hoylman-Sigal and Upper East Side Democratic Sen. Liz Krueger wrote a letter earlier this month to the elections board pushing their case to bar Trump.
“(I)neligible candidates who have engaged in insurrection in violation of the Constitution are not eligible for candidacy under New York law,” the senators wrote. “Donald Trump, as the leader of such an insurrection, should not be listed on New York ballots.”
The Colorado Supreme Court ruled that the 14th Amendment of the Constitution bars Trump from serving as president because he participated in an insurrection by inciting the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, D-Bronx, last week introduced a proposed amendment to the state’s election law that would direct the state Board of Elections to bar anyone from the ballot who has engaged in an insurrection.
“This legislation will ensure there is a process in place to preclude an individual who participated in an insurrection or rebellion against the United States from being able to serve in elective office,” Dinowltz wrote in his legislative justification.
It’s not clear if the stunning Colorado decision will have any direct impact on whether Trump will appear on the ballot in the Empire State.
Colorado state election officials say they will remove Trump’s name from the state’s primary election ballot unless the U.S. Supreme Court overrules the decision or takes some other action before a Jan. 5 deadline.
Trump has said he will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court but has not yet done so.
If the Supreme Court affirms the Colorado it could lead to many other states following suit. If it overturns the decision and orders Trump reinstated, it would likely end the debate, at least for the 2024 election cycle.
Similar lawsuits have been filed in other states and are working their way through the state court systems. So far, New York state courts have not been asked to rule on the issue.
Little-known GOP presidential hopeful John Anthony Castro filed a federal lawsuit in the Northern District of New York asking the court to order Trump removed from the state’s ballot.
Responding to that suit, the state Board of Elections on Nov. 3 said it took no position and would abide by the court’s judgment.
It’s unlikely that a federal district court would order state election officials to take any such significant action unless the Supreme Court weighed in first.
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