Suit to bar Trump from Nevada ballot over role in Jan. 6 dismissed for lack of standing
A Nevada-based federal judge on Monday dismissed a lawsuit that sought to bar former President Donald Trump from the ballot in Nevada over Trump’s role in the Jan. 6, 2021 uprising after the judge found the Texas man who filed the case lacked standing to do so.
U.S. District Court Judge Gloria Navarro cited other federal district court decisions, including those in New Hampshire and Southern Florida, to reject similar cases filed by John Anthony Castro, a 40-year-old longshot Republican presidential candidate who has sought lawsuits to remove Trump from the ballot in multiple states under the argument that Trump is ineligible under the “insurrection” clause of the 14th Amendment.
“In rejecting his political competitor standing argument, courts have found that Castro improperly manufactured his standing merely to file this lawsuit,” Navarro wrote, citing evidence that Castro is running for office simply to pursue these lawsuits against Trump.
Navarro pointed to a Castro quote in an Associated Press article, in which he stated, “I’m not going to lie and pretend my candidacy is anything more than trying to enforce the United States Constitution, and that’s what I’m here to do.”
Castro filed to run in the state’s presidential primary, while Trump is running in the Nevada GOP’s presidential caucus. Read more about the two contests here.
Navarro declined to rule on the merits of Castro’s argument, though one court has done so as Trump challengers have pursued similar lawsuits in dozens of states. Castro's suit appears to be the only one in Nevada making such an argument.
Most notably, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled last month that Trump is not disqualified from being president under the 14th Amendment, a Civil War-era provision that bars from office any person who “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” after taking the oath of office.
Trump has appealed that decision, and the U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments in the case on Feb. 8, the same day as the Nevada GOP caucus.
— This story is used with permission of The Nevada Independent. Go here for updates to this and other Nevada Independent stories.