(Updated to reflect pro se lawsuit filed against Kansas)
Former President Donald Trump became the first Republican on Wednesday to file for the GOP primary in Kansas next year as he faces four criminal cases, including two accusing him of trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
A representative of the Trump campaign filed paperwork Wednesday with the secretary of state to get on the ballot for the state-run primary set for next March 19. The campaign could not be reached for comment Wednesday afternoon.
So far, the Republican presidential field also includes former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former Vice President Mike Pence, U.S. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, among others.
The field stands to be narrowed by next March, although it remains to be seen whether Trump will remain on the ballot in Kansas.
Lawsuits have already been filed in several other states where Trump is trying to get on the ballot, including California, Colorado, Florida and Minnesota.
A Texas man – representing himself – filed a federal lawsuit against Secretary of State Scott Schwab last week trying to keep the former president off the ballot.
In Kansas, state law requires candidates’ names to be printed on the ballot if they file with the Federal Election Commission, file with the secretary of state by next Jan. 19 and pay a filing fee of $10,000 or submit a petition with 5,000 signatures of registered voters.
And unlike some other states, Kansas law does not give the secretary of state the power to vet the validity or qualifications of a presidential candidate.
Last Saturday, an attorney filed a lawsuit against the California secretary of state to keep Trump off the ballot in California’s 2024 presidential primary.
The lawsuit contends that the former president is disqualified because of his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, protests at the U.S. Capitol.
The lawsuit contends Trump can’t run for president because the 14th Amendment says no one can hold office who has taken an oath of office to support the Constitution and then “engage in insurrection or rebellion” or helped those who did.
The lawsuit is based on a law review article authored last month by two conservative legal scholars.
The article – published by the University of Pennsylvania Law Review – contends that Section Three of the 14th Amendment forbids former elected officials from holding office if they participate in insurrection or rebellion.
“Because of a range of misperceptions and mistaken assumptions, Section Three’s full legal consequences have not been appreciated or enforced,” the law professors argue.
“We think that if these constitutional duties are taken seriously, there is a list of candidates and officials who must face judgment under Section Three.
“Former president Donald Trump is at the top of that list, but he is not the end of it.”
The view is far from universal even as efforts are building to keep Trump from running in next year’s presidential election.
Some experts have said there are questions about who has the power to enforce Section Three of the 14th Amendment as well as what would define an insurrection or rebellion.
The Trump campaign could not be reached for comment Wednesday, but a spokesperson blasted the lawsuit filed in California.
“Joe Biden, Democrats and Never Trumpers are scared to death because they see polls showing President Trump winning in the general election,” Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung told The Los Angeles Times.
“The people who are pursuing this absurd conspiracy theory and political attack on President Trump are stretching the law beyond recognition much like the political prosecutors in New York, Georgia and D.C.
“There is no legal basis for this effort except in the minds of those who are pushing it.”
Last week, the Washington, D.C.-based Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington – known as CREW – filed a lawsuit to keep Trump off the ballot in Colorado.
The group also contends Section 3 of the 14th Amendment prevents someone from holding federal or state office who took an “oath…to support the Constitution of the United States” and then has “engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.”
“After losing the 2020 presidential election, Donald Trump violated that oath by recruiting, inciting and encouraging a violent mob that attacked the Capitol on January 6, 2021 in a futile attempt to remain in office,” the organization contends.
The lawsuits are far from a legal slam dunk.
At the end of August, a federal court in Florida dismissed a lawsuit seeking to keep Trump of the ballot.
U.S. District Judge Robin Rosenberg ruled in that case that plaintiffs lacked standing without ruling on the larger question of the 14th Amendment and Trump.
“Plaintiffs lack standing to challenge defendant’s qualifications for seeking the presidency, as the injuries alleged are not cognizable and not particular to them.”
