{"id":28653,"date":"2023-09-20T13:20:00","date_gmt":"2023-09-20T20:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=28653"},"modified":"2023-09-20T13:20:02","modified_gmt":"2023-09-20T20:20:02","slug":"california-politicians-float-removing-trump-from-2024-ballot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2023\/09\/20\/california-politicians-float-removing-trump-from-2024-ballot\/","title":{"rendered":"California politicians float removing Trump from 2024 ballot"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By\u00a0Alex Shultz<\/a> Sep 18, 2023 (SFGate.com)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump arrives at the Monumental Leaders Rally hosted by the South Dakota Republican Party on Sept. 8, 2023, in Rapid City, S.D.\u00a0Scott Olson\/Getty Images<\/em><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A group of Democratic lawmakers in California have asked state Attorney General Rob Bonta to expeditiously seek a court ruling on whether\u00a0Donald\u00a0 Trump<\/a>\u00a0should be removed from\u00a0California\u2019s March primary ballot<\/a>.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everything to know about visiting SF’s Angel Island<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a letter obtained by Politico<\/a> and the New York Times,<\/a> nine California lawmakers reportedly wrote to Bonta that he as state attorney general is \u201cuniquely positioned to proactively seek the court\u2019s opinion to confirm Mr. Trump\u2019s inability to hold office.\u201d The lawmakers reportedly cited the Jan. 6 insurrection attempt and Trump\u2019s efforts to overturn the 2020 election as evidence that he\u2019s potentially violated Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which disqualifies politicians who\u2019ve \u201cengaged in insurrection or rebellion.\u201d That section was originally directed at Confederate politicians after the Civil War, and is largely untested in more recent American history, according to the New York Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As California\u2019s attorney general, Bonta has \u201cautomatic standing to proactively ask a court for declaratory relief, a process where a judge can quickly rule on an unresolved legal question,\u201d\u00a0Politico reported.<\/a>\u00a0Bonta\u2019s office provided a statement to multiple outlets, confirming that he was taking the ask from Democratic lawmakers seriously: \u201cWe are aware of the letter and will review the request internally. There is no denying that Donald Trump has engaged in behavior that is unacceptable and unbecoming of any leader\u00a0\u2014 let alone a president of the United States. Beyond that, we have no additional comment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A California court ruling against Trump\u2019s eligibility would without a doubt compel appeals from Trump\u2019s camp in the lead-up to the state\u2019s March 5 primary. If the case is ultimately appealed to the Supreme Court, then Trump would be arguing before a likely sympathetic 6-to-3 conservative majority on the bench.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the unlikely event that California lawmakers and Bonta are successful in booting Trump from the state\u2019s primary, it could reshape the entire presidential election. The California GOP recently amended<\/a> its primary rules in a way that helps the former president: A candidate who eclipses 50% of the vote is now slated to receive all 169 of California\u2019s delegates, which is the most up for grabs of any state. Sans Trump, the rest of the GOP field could pick up some meaningful delegates of their own, and make it more difficult for him to reach the 1,234 delegate threshold<\/a> required to become the Republican Party\u2019s presidential candidate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A recent Berkeley IGS Poll<\/a> put Trump\u2019s support among Republican voters in California at 55%. If that number held come the primary, it would be enough to cross the 50% figure required to snag all of California\u2019s ultra-valuable 169 delegates. Trump is scheduled to speak<\/a> at a California Republican Party convention in Anaheim on Sept. 29.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BEST OF SFGATE<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sep 18, 2023<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By\u00a0Alex Shultz<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alex Shultz is the politics editor for SFGATE. You can reach him at alex.shultz@sfgate.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Alex Shultz Sep 18, 2023 (SFGate.com) Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump arrives at the Monumental Leaders Rally hosted by the South Dakota Republican Party on Sept. 8, 2023, in Rapid City, S.D.\u00a0Scott Olson\/Getty Images A group of Democratic lawmakers in California have asked state Attorney General Rob Bonta… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1104],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28653"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28653"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28653\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28656,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28653\/revisions\/28656"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28653"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28653"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}