A lawsuit arguing that former President Donald Trump should be barred from running for office in Arizona next year due to constitutional violations was dismissed by a federal judge in Arizona.
This Monday, U.S. District Judge Douglas L. Rayes ruled in a 12-page decision that obscure presidential contender John Anthony Castro “lacks standing to bring his claim.”
Castro filed the claim in September, claiming that because Trump “gave aid and comfort to insurrectionists on January 6, 2021,” he is ineligible to take office under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.
Rayes refuted Castro’s claim that a Trump candidacy in Arizona the next year would cause him a “competitive injury.” Castro has filed similar cases in other states.
“The plaintiff must genuinely be competing with the allegedly ineligible candidate, though, because the injury unpinning competitive standing is the potential loss of an election,” Rayes concluded.
He continued, citing Castro’s lack of contributions to and presence throughout the campaign as evidence that the facts “do not show that Castro is truly competing with Trump.”
The 14th Amendment challenge had been made in “bad faith,” according to Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung, who also claimed that the cases had been “brought forth by a thirsty, Biden-allied troll in a desperate publicity campaign” in reaction to the court’s decision.
Adrian Fontes, the secretary of state of Arizona and one of the defendants in the case, did not immediately answer a request for comment from his office. Reaching Castro proved to be unfruitful.
Similar attempts to keep Trump off the ballot on constitutional grounds have been rejected by judges in other states, such as Colorado, Minnesota, and Michigan; however, some of these decisions are currently being appealed.
