Obama Judge Shuts Down Effort to Kick Donald Trump Off Ballot

A federal judge in Nevada, who was appointed by former president Barack Obama, dismissed a lawsuit on Monday that sought to have Donald Trump off the ballot.

Trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, faces legal challenges that seek to remove him from the ballot in several states, with two having already barred his name from primary voters' consideration. The lawsuits argue that Trump is ineligible to run under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which bars officials who have sworn an oath to the U.S. Constitution from holding office if they engage in insurrection.

On Thursday, Maine became the second state to remove the former president from its 2024 ballot, preventing him from participating in its primary in March. Earlier this month, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that Trump should be barred from the state's ballot because of his alleged role in the riot at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. Trump is facing federal charges in connection to his alleged actions leading up to the riot, which followed after he addressed his supporters during a rally on Capitol Hill.

Trump has maintained his innocence and said that he did not engage in an insurrection, accusing those filing lawsuits against him of attempting election interference. Meanwhile, the Colorado Republican Party has also filed an appeal against the state's decision, which will bring the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

On Monday U.S. District Judge Gloria M. Navarro dismissed a lawsuit filed by John Anthony Castro, a presidential candidate from Texas that sought to have Trump removed from the ballot in Nevada.

Newsweek has reached out to Trump via email for comment.

According to Navarro, Castro, 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, lacks standing in the case as he manufactured the conditions that led to the lawsuit, citing his bid to the presidency.

"In rejecting his political competitor's 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.

Castro had admitted to The Associated Press in October that he was running for office to file the federal lawsuits.

"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 said.

Castro filed to run in the state's presidential primary, while Trump is running in the Nevada GOP's presidential caucus.

In a statement Tuesday, Steven Cheung, a Trump campaign spokesman praised the Nevada court decision as a victory for the former president while critiquing other similar cases seeking to bar Trump from the ballot under the 14th Amendment.

"Today's dismissal of another bogus, bad-faith, Crooked Joe Biden-engineered attempt to deprive Americans as a whole, and the voters of Nevada specifically, of their right to vote for the candidate of their choice is not only a victory for President Trump, but a victory for all Americans and the people of Nevada. President Trump remains undefeated in federal court against these cynical efforts to interfere in the 2024 election. Courts in eleven states have now dismissed similar, pathetic, 14th Amendment ballot cases," Cheung said.

"Make no mistake, each and every one of these 'ballot-challenges' are blatant attempts to steal the election for Crooked Joe Biden and disenfranchise over 100 million American voters. President Trump is the leading candidate for not only the Republican primary, but the general election and his opponents are desperate. Rest assured that he will fight each and every one of these disgraceful attacks on American democracy, he will win, and we will all Make America Great Again," Cheung added.