Phil Murphy fights to allow Donald Trump on the New Jersey ballot

Lisa McCormick, a leading anti-establishment New Jersey Democratic activist, expressed dismay and disgust at the administration of Governor Phil Murphy for the state's opposition to a lawsuit aimed at preventing former President Donald Trump from appearing on the ballot in New Jersey.

"I am deeply disappointed that the Murphy administration is siding with Donald Trump over the rule of law," said McCormick. "Donald Trump is a threat to our democracy, and he should not be allowed to run for public office again."

A lawsuit filed by John Bellocchio, a New Jersey dog trainer, argues that Trump incited the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol and is therefore disqualified from running for president under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which bars anyone who has engaged in insurrection from holding public office.

Bellocchio, a former history teacher who is an unaffiliated voter behind the New Jersey challenge to Trump’s ballot eligibility, said this is “not about Donald Trump” and it’s “not a partisan issue.”

The complaint, filed in Superior Court in Mercer County, names Lt. Gov. Tahesha Way, who is also the secretary of state, and Donna Barber, the director of the state’s elections divisions, as the defendants. Way is responsible for accepting candidate filings and reviewing their compliance.

“This is to protect the government of the people, by the people, and for the people. It’s about stopping a movement,” Bellocchio said. “It’s about forcing New Jersey to finally put principle over politics.”

The Murphy administration filed papers with the Superior Court asking the judge to dismiss Bellocchio's lawsuit. The administration argues that the 14th Amendment does not apply to presidential candidates and that the courts should not interfere with the electoral process.

"The Murphy administration's position is outrageous," McCormick said. "They are putting their own cowardice ahead of the interests of the American people. Trump has been accused by federal prosecutors of taking illegal actions that led to the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol, Trump has been accused by prosecutors in Georgia of leading an illegal criminal conspiracy that was intended to deny the candidate who was actually elected his rightful victory."

"An independent New Jersey voter, John Bellocchio, filed a lawsuit early enough to give the court system time to process what can become a complex constitutional issue, but the Murphy administration is trying to shut down the case with patently absurd arguments," McCormick said.

In a certification supporting the state's motion to dismiss the lawsuit, Acting Director of the New Jersey Division of Elections Lauren Zyriek said, “No petition requesting Donald J. Trump and his electors for the office of president of the United States to be placed on the 2024 General Election ballot has been filed with the Department of State.”

"It is absurd to argue that Donald Trump is not a candidate because, in November 2022, he announced that he was a candidate, he filed a statement of organization with the Federal Election Commission, and he has been aggressively leading the polls in the race for the GOP 2024 presidential nomination," McCormick said. "Most surveys show not only that Trump is a prohibitive favorite for his party’s nomination but also that he is likely to defeat President Joe Biden in the general election."

The Trump campaign has raised more than $60 million so far, according to financial disclosure reports.

McCormick urged the New Jersey Attorney General to reconsider his position and to support Bellocchio's lawsuit. She also called on Governor Murphy to use his executive authority to bar Trump from appearing on the ballot in New Jersey.

"We cannot allow Donald Trump to run for president again," said McCormick. "He is a danger to our democracy, and we must do everything we can to prevent him from taking office again."

"The language of the 14th Amendment is general and not restricted to the specific issues raised by slavery and the Civil War," said McCormick. "It is phrased to cover future breaches of oaths to uphold the Constitution, the prohibition clause is not limited to former Confederate officials and supporters. Neither the language of the Constitutional text nor the history of its drafting and adoption supports a narrow reading. A broad interpretation of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment covering Trump’s actions leading up to the January 6th insurrection is consistent with that provision’s history. "

The legal theory behind the challenges cites Section 3 of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which bars from office anyone who has previously taken an oath to defend the Constitution and has “engaged in insurrection or rebellion.”
Trump encouraged his supporters to riot at the Capitol, which disqualifies him from seeking the presidency.

Polls show Trump is the clear front-runner for the Republican nomination for president and is tied or nearly tied in general election matchups with President Joe Biden.

The push to exclude Trump from the ballot in 2024 began in earnest with a journal article in the University of Pennsylvania Law Review from authors William Baude and Michael S. Paulsen, two conservative constitutional legal scholars who assert that Donald Trump's attempts to subvert the outcome of the 2020 presidential election disqualify him from running for president and argued Section 3 empowers state election officials to remove Trump from the ballot.

Trump has been widely criticized for his role in the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol. He has been accused of inciting the violence and of failing to take action to stop it.

A number of legal challenges have been filed to prevent Trump from appearing on the ballot in various states. In Colorado, a state judge recently ruled that a similar case against Trump can proceed to trial. The outcome of the Colorado case could have far-reaching implications for Trump's campaign. If the judge ultimately rules against Trump, it could embolden Democratic officials in other states to drop him from the ballot.