Lawsuit seeks to disqualify Trump from Alaska ballot – Alaska's News Source
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – A 2024 Republican presidential candidate is asking the United States District Court of Alaska to rule former President Donald Trump is ineligible to appear on the state’s 2024 presidential election ballot.
The lawsuit was filed by Texas attorney and 2024 Republican presidential candidate John Anthony Castro.
However, some Republican leaders in Alaska feel the lawsuit will gain very little steam heading into 2024, even with Colorado’s Supreme Court ruling that Trump is ineligible to appear on the state’s primary ballot next year based on constitutional grounds.
According to the lawsuit, the Texas attorney says he has standing here in Alaska because he intends to either appear on the ballot in the state for the Republican primary or to be formally recognized as a write-in candidate for the general election.
Like in Colorado, the lawsuit asks the court to disqualify Trump from the ballot under section 3 of the 14th amendment and find that Trump provided “aid and comfort” to the insurrectionist on Jan. 6, 2021.
In the lawsuit, it says on Jan. 29, 2022, Trump publicly stated, “If I run and if I win, we will treat those people from January 6 fairly. We will treat them fairly. And if it requires pardons, we will give them pardons.”
Furthermore, the lawsuit says Castro and Trump are both pursuing the same voter and donor pies.
It states Castro will suffer irreparable competitive injuries if Trump is able to secure votes in primary elections and secure funds.
It goes on to say, “Castro has spoken to thousands of voters who have expressed that they would vote for Castro only if Trump is not a presidential candidate as they maintain political loyalty to Trump.”
Alaska Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom is also named in the lawsuit, and it asks the court to issue an injunction against Dahlstrom and prevent her from giving Trump access to the ballot.
Regarding the lawsuit, Alaska Department of Law Information Officer Sam Curtis said in a statement, “We have not been served with this lawsuit and we do not know whether the plaintiff wishes to pursue it. He has voluntarily dismissed many of his similar lawsuits in other states.”
Alaska GOP chair Ann Brown added, “According to online sources, Plaintiff Castro has not served either Defendant Lieutenant Governor Dahlstrom or President Trump, despite filing his Complaint over 3 months ago. Until the Plaintiff achieves service, his lawsuit cannot move forward. There appears to be little chance at this stage that his lawsuit would exclude President Trump from the Alaska ballot.”
For this story, Alaska’s News Source did reach out to the chair of the Alaska Democratic Party. A spokesperson for the party said it has no comment to issue at this time.
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