Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray rebuked an attorney’s recent lawsuit seeking to ban former President Donald Trump and Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) from future ballots, the latest move by outside groups looking to disqualify the former president under the 14th Amendment.
Tim Newcomb, a retired attorney from Laramie, Wyoming, filed a lawsuit this week asking a state judge to bar Trump and Lummis from the ballot next November and other future tickets over their actions following the 2020 election. The lawsuit, similar to those being levied against the former president in several states, cited Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which prohibits a person who has engaged in insurrection from running for federal office.
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Gray told the Cheyenne Post in a statement Thursday that he would prepare a “vigorous defense” against Newcomb’s filing.
“The attempt to remove Donald Trump and Cynthia Lummis from the ballot is outrageously wrong and repugnant to our electoral process,” Gray said. “I am preparing a vigorous defense to stop these blatant, radical attempts to interfere with Wyoming’s elections. The weaponization of the Fourteenth Amendment to remove political opponents from the ballot undermines the sanctity of the Constitution. We are preparing to file a motion to dismiss to block this attempt at election interference. And we are committed to protecting the integrity of our elections and ensuring that the people of Wyoming can choose who to elect for themselves.”
While most of the 14th Amendment challenges have been levied against Trump alone, the challenge in Wyoming is one of the first to tie a senator into the case with the former president. Other 14th Amendment lawsuits have been filed against members of Congress in the past, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and former North Carolina Rep. Madison Cawthorne, a Republican.
Newcomb accused Lummis and Trump of failing to defend the Constitution and of adhering to enemies of the United States, per the Cowboy State Daily.
“Mr. Trump disqualified himself from appearing on Wyoming’s ballot when he refused to defend the Constitution’s transfer of presidential power,” the court filing said. “Ms. Lummis disqualified herself from appearing on Wyoming’s ballot when she refused to count Pennsylvania’s electoral ballots to the electoral count.”
Lummis is not up for reelection in 2024. If she chooses to run for the Senate again, she will be on the ballot in 2026. She has not indicated whether she is planning to run for a second term.
Lummis communications director Stacey Daniels called Newcomb’s lawsuit frivolous in a statement to the Washington Examiner.
“Elections in Wyoming are decided by the people of the Cowboy State, not attorneys filing frivolous lawsuits to undermine the will of the voters,” Daniels said. “Any effort to remove candidates from the ballot is a direct attack on the freedom to choose their elected officials and undermines the integrity of our elections. Senator Lummis was elected to the United States Senate by more votes than anyone has ever received on a ballot in Wyoming history, so clearly voters in the state believe she should be on the ballot.”
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Other states that are considering barring Trump from the 2024 ballot include Michigan, Minnesota, Colorado, New Hampshire, and Arizona. A Minnesota court rejected the 14th Amendment challenge in that state and ruled in Trump’s favor on Nov. 8. Michigan Court of Claims Judge James Robert Redford dismissed a lawsuit from Free Speech for People on Tuesday.
Colorado’s ruling is expected to come as early as Friday.
