New York Dems threaten lawsuit to keep Trump off the ballot
The warning comes after the Colorado Supreme Court moved to bar the former president for its ballot.
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Democratic lawmakers in New York are not ruling out a lawsuit to block former President Donald Trump from the state's April 2 primary.
State Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Brad Hoylman-Sigal said in an interview Wednesday he would continue to press Republican state elections officials to prevent the erstwhile New Yorker from appearing on the ballot.
Hoylman-Sigal renewed that call after the Colorado Supreme Court moved to bar the former president. Trump's campaign is expected to appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.
“I think in this instance it’s pretty clear that an insurrectionist is disqualified from seeking the presidency because of section 3 of the 14th amendment,” Hoylman-Sigal said.
He was also sanguine when asked if the mounting legal problems for Trump will only empower the former president with the Republican base.
“It’s politics, but it’s politics on the part of the candidates,” Hoylman-Sigal said. “This is a serious constitutional issue that needs to get resolved before New York’s presidential primary.”
Gov. Kathy Hochul, meanwhile, was sympathetic to the idea without outright endorsing it.
"I'll be very intrigued to see whether similar to Colorado a group of citizens who are aggrieved want to point out the fact that their state has been successful,” she told reporters in Albany on Wednesday.
New York Democratic legislators have in the past tried multiple avenues to address Trump’s foibles. In 2019, lawmakers approved legislation to pry open Trump’s state tax returns.
Trump, naturally, has blasted the Colorado ruling as flawed.
“We have full confidence that the U.S. Supreme Court will quickly rule in our favor and finally put an end to these unAmerican lawsuits,” Trump’s campaign said in a statement.
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