Newsom rejects plan to block Trump from California ballot

Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) informed his fellow Californians that he would have no part in attempts to remove former President Donald Trump from the state’s primary ballot.

“There is no doubt that Donald Trump is a threat to our liberties and even to our democracy,” Newsom said in a statement Friday afternoon, “but in California, we defeat candidates at the polls. Everything else is a political distraction.”

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The Colorado Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that Trump is disqualified from running for president because his actions on Jan. 6, 2021, violated the insurrection clause of the 14th Amendment. Other states have pursued the option of removing the former president from their Republican primary ballots.

The statement from Newsom goes against the plans of several California politicians who have been hoping to remove the former president from the Republican ballot in the Golden State.

In September, nine California lawmakers wrote to state Attorney General Rob Bonta, urging him to block Trump as ineligible for office under the 14th Amendment.

More recently, Democratic state Sen. David Min planned to introduce a bill to allow Californians to sue to block ineligible candidates, but the bill is not likely to take effect before the state’s March 5 presidential primary.

On Wednesday, Lt. Gov Eleni Kounalakis sent a letter to California Secretary of State Shirley Weber asking her to “explore every legal option” to remove Trump from the ballot.

“California must stand on the right side of history,” wrote Kounalakis. “California is obligated to determine if Trump is ineligible for the California ballot.”

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Kounalakis, a 2026 Democratic gubernatorial hopeful, characterized the decision to remove Trump from the ballot as “a dire matter that puts at stake the sanctity of our constitution and our democracy.”

Several other contenders for the 2024 presidential nomination, including Republican Vivek Ramaswamy and Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN), have denounced the Colorado decision that keeps their opponent out of the race.