Arizona GOP goes to court to defend Trump's right to run

PHOENIX — The Arizona Republican Party wants to defend Donald Trump’s right to be on the ballot in the state’s 2024 presidential preference election despite another candidate’s claims he is disqualified.

The state GOP says it needs to intervene because it cannot rely on Democratic Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, who is defending Trump’s right to run, to do so as forcefully as possible.

The dispute playing out in federal court stems from a filing last month by Texas resident John Anthony Castro, who is registered with the Federal Elections Commission as a Republican candidate for president. He claims Trump is disqualified from running because he provided “aid and comfort’’ to an insurrection.

That mirrors language in the 14th Amendment, adopted after the Civil War. It bars the election to certain federal offices, including president, of anyone who has engaged in insurrection or rebellion “or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.’’

Castro wants U.S. District Court Judge Douglas Rayes to order Fontes to keep Trump’s name off the ballot for Arizona’s March 19, 2024 presidential preference primary.

Fontes’ role

Fontes has said he has no legal right to keep the former president off the ballot. He pointed to a provision of Arizona law that says any candidate who files the requisite 500 signatures is entitled to be included on the ballot here if they also qualify for the ballot in at least two other states.

The Arizona Attorney General’s Office is defending Fontes in Rayes’ court.

Not good enough, said attorney Dennis Wilenchik, representing the state GOP.

At the very least, he told the judge, Fontes’ interest is solely in upholding his interpretation of the law.

“Therefore, his ultimate objective is both narrowly focused, and, of course, is colored by his Democratic background,’’ Wilenchik said. “He has no political incentive to pay attention to the specific issues that concern the AZGOP and its members.’’

That interest, the attorney said, is giving Arizona Republicans access “to as many candidates as possible for any primary election, including the presidential preference election.’’

“The AZGOP also has a strong interest in ensuring that its presidential preference elections are fair to all potential candidates and are perceived as such both by registered Arizona Republicans and others.’’

Nor does Wilenchik think Trump’s own role in the case — he also is named as a defendant — is sufficient to protect the party’s interest. He said Trump can’t be counted on to care about anything beyond getting his name on the Arizona ballot.

“The AZGOP, however, is interested in safeguarding fair and fully participatory Arizona Republican primaries and presidential preference elections for many years beyond the impending 2024 election cycle,’’ Wilenchik wrote. “Former President Trump is not situated to make these long-term arguments.’’

Maximum competition sought

Back to homepage

Subscriber Login

Keep reading with a digital access subscription.

Subscribe now

The state GOP is taking no position in the new filing on who should be the party’s presidential nominee. Trump is one of nearly a dozen GOP contenders with some name recognition who want to be president.

What the party is interested in, said Wilenchik, is maximum competition — and maximum opportunity for registered Republican voters, who are the only ones who can cast ballots in the party’s presidential preference election.

“Should former President Donald J. Trump be enjoined from registering as a candidate for the upcoming presidential preference election, the AZGOP’s First Amendment interests in allowing registered Arizona Republicans to choose among a wide range of candidates and to facilitate fair, and apparently fair, Republican presidential preference elections will be both immediately impaired and potentially impaired with respect to all such future elections,’’ he wrote.

Wilenchik criticized Castro for trying to force Fontes to keep Trump off the ballot, saying it would deprive Arizona Republicans of their state constitutional rights.

“The relief sought by plaintiff is a restriction on AZGOP’s speech which is content and viewpoint-based and demonstrates an effort to intimidate and silence the AZGOP’s association and expression,’’ he wrote.

Wilenchik acknowledged the language of the 14th Amendment. But he wants Rayes to rule Fontes “does not have the authority’’ under that amendment to keep Trump off the ballot.

Castro does not agree. In his 17-page self-filed brief he cites multiple instances of activities and comments by Trump on and around the Jan. 6, 2021 riot in Washington that he said cross the legal line and make the former president ineligible.

Still, Castro conceded Rayes’ authority to keep Trump off the ballot may not be as clear as all that.

He said he views the judiciary as the ultimate decider of Trump’s eligibility. But Castro also said it might take more.

“A congressional finding of liability would certainly aid the judiciary’s fact-finding mission,’’ he said.

According to his bio, Castro’s political career dates back to an unsuccessful bid for county commissioner in 2004 at age 19. He also made attempts to get elected to Congress.

Now a Texas tax consultant, he filed in March to run for president, loaning his campaign $20 million according to records filed with the Federal Election Commission.

This isn’t his first legal foray into trying to keep Trump off the ballot.

Earlier this month the U.S. Supreme Court, without comment, refused to overturn a ruling by a federal judge in Florida where Castro sought similar relief. But that likely does not preclude his case here — or similar ones filed by other groups in other states — from going forward.

A trial before Rayes is set for the end of this month.