Current:Home > ScamsIndiana secretary of state appeals ruling for US Senate candidate seeking GOP nod-InfoLens
Indiana secretary of state appeals ruling for US Senate candidate seeking GOP nod
View Date:2024-12-23 11:16:11
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Indiana secretary of state is appealing a ruling that a law stipulating voting requirements for a candidate’s party affiliation is unconstitutional in a decision that lifted the hopes of a U.S. Senate hopeful who wants to run as a Republican.
The Indiana attorney general’s office filed the notice of appeal Friday with the Indiana Supreme Court on behalf of Secretary of State Diego Morales.
The filing came a day after a Marion County judge granted an injunction sought by John Rust, former chair of the egg supplier Rose Acre Farms who is running to replace Sen. Mike Braun. Rust filed a lawsuit in September against Morales, the Indiana Election Commission and Jackson County Republican Party Chair Amanda Lowery to challenge the law and ensure the possibility of his place on the ballot.
The law in question says a candidate’s past two primary elections must be cast with the party the candidate is affiliated with or a county party chair must approve the candidacy. In court documents, Rust argued that this statute “should be struck down as being unconstitutionally vague and overly broad.”
A phone message seeking comment from Rust was left Friday evening by The Associated Press.
Rust voted as a Republican in the 2016 primary but as a Democrat in 2012. He did not vote in the 2020 Republican primary due to the pandemic and the lack of competitive Republican races in Jackson County, the lawsuit said. Rust said his Democratic votes were for people he personally knew.
Lowery, the county’s Republican Party chair, said in a July meeting with Rust that she would not certify him, the lawsuit said. Rust has said Lowery later cited his primary voting record.
In a November hearing, Rust said the law keeps legitimate candidates who have recently moved to Indiana or have switched political identifications from running for office.
In his ruling, Marion County Superior Court Judge Patrick J. Dietrick said the law “unduly burdens Hoosiers’ long recognized right to freely associate with the political party of one’s choosing and to cast one’s vote effectively.”
Should Rust prevail, he still faces an uphill challenge for the GOP nomination. U.S. Rep. Jim Banks has received the endorsement of the Indiana Republican Party and former President Donald Trump. Rust must also fulfill a signature quota for the nomination.
Casting himself as a conservative gay man with an “outsider’s voice” to Washington D.C., Rust is the former chair of his family business Rose Acre Farms in southern Indiana. Rose Acre Farms identifies itself as the second-largest egg producer in the U.S.
The company was one of four major egg producers in the country accused of fixing the price of eggs in the 2000s. A jury in an Illinois federal court recently ruled the producers conspired to limit the domestic supply of eggs to increase prices between 2004-2008 and ordered the companies to pay $17.7 million in damages. Rose Acre Farms has denied any wrongdoing.
Sen. Mike Braun is vacating the seat in his bid for governor.
veryGood! (62)
Related
- Eva Longoria Shares She and Her Family Have Moved Out of the United States
- Best apples to eat? Ranking healthiest types from green to red and everything in between
- Marc-Andre Fleury boosts Hall of Fame case, moves into second in all-time NHL goalie wins
- Parents see more to be done after deadly Iowa school shooting
- Lou Donaldson, jazz saxophonist who blended many influences, dead at 98
- A blast at a tire and explosives factory in Serbia kills 1 person and injures 4
- Gilgo Beach serial killing suspect returning to court as prosecutors plan major announcement
- Guatemala's new President Bernardo Arevalo takes office, saying country has dodged authoritarian setback
- Bull doge! Dogecoin soars as Trump announces a government efficiency group nicknamed DOGE
- Joan Collins and Husband Percy Gibson Have Rare Date Night at 2023 Emmys
Ranking
- Food prices worried most voters, but Trump’s plans likely won’t lower their grocery bills
- National Bagel Day 2024: Free bagel at Einstein Bros. and other bagel deals
- Inquest begins into a 2022 stabbing rampage in Canada that killed 11 and injured 17
- Connecticut takes over No. 1 spot as USA TODAY Sports men's basketball poll gets major overhaul
- New Yorkers vent their feelings over the election and the Knicks via subway tunnel sticky notes
- EU presidency warns democracy will be put to the test in US elections in November
- Hard road for a soft landing? Recession risks have come down but still loom in 2024
- Lawmakers announce deal to expand child tax credit and extend business tax breaks
Recommendation
-
Fantasy football waiver wire: 10 players to add for NFL Week 11
-
Kenya embarks on its biggest rhino relocation project. A previous attempt was a disaster
-
The Only Question About Sales Growth for Electric Vehicles in 2024 Is, How Big?
-
DeSantis takes second place over Haley in Iowa caucuses, vowing to remain in 2024 race
-
Amazon launches an online discount storefront to better compete with Shein and Temu
-
Kenya embarks on its biggest rhino relocation project. A previous attempt was a disaster
-
California’s Oil Country Faces an ‘Existential’ Threat. Kern County Is Betting on the Carbon Removal Industry to Save It.
-
Niecy Nash's Emmys speech pays tribute to 'every Black and brown woman who has gone unheard'