New York Democrats are hoping that the Colorado Supreme Court ruling knocking former President Donald Trump off the presidential primary ballot there will pave the way for their efforts to do so as well.
Democratic state Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal, who is spearheading the effort to ensure no one can vote for Trump, said he was “elated” by the Colorado ruling, according to the Daily News.
“New York is next,” Hoylman-Sigal posted Tuesday on X.
New York is next. https://t.co/b7ZI8Inm1P
— Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal (@bradhoylman) December 19, 2023
Hoylman-Sigal has asked the state Board of Elections to take Trump off the 2024 ballot, using the same reasoning as the Colorado Supreme Court.
The Colorado ruling was based on a clause in the 14th Amendment that bans U.S. officials who have participated in an insurrection from holding office. The court equated the Jan. 6 Capitol incursion with an insurrection and said Trump instigated the events of that day.
Hoylman-Sigal agrees.
“The January 6 insurrection was a violent uprising against the United States that tragically resulted in loss of multiple lives,” he and a cohort of Democratic state senators said in a Dec. 7 letter to the Board of Elections, according to the New York Post.
Is barring Trump from the ballot unconstitutional?
“That dark day in our nation’s history was led, facilitated, and encouraged by Trump. The Board must not allow those who participated to run again for office against the mandate of the Constitution.”
Democratic Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz is taking the legislative route, proposing an amendment to state election law barring anyone involved in an insurrection from the ballot, the Daily News reported.
Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul, meanwhile, poured on the rhetoric when asked about the Colorado case.
“It’s something I’d watch very closely because that was one of the darkest days in our nation’s history,” Hochul said, according to WHAM-TV.
“Jan. 6 will live in infamy. Shame on us if we forget that. Shame on us what happened to this country when a Capitol that I used to proudly walk in as a member of Congress was literally under siege.
“People died, people were injured, and if [Trump] doesn’t take responsibility for that, then the American people ought to hold him accountable. So that’s what’s starting in Colorado,” she said.
New York Rep. Elise Stefanik called for Republicans to support the former president.
“President Trump was viciously erased from the ballot by radical Democrats who seek to steal the election and take away our vote — FIGHT BACK!” she posted Wednesday on X.
President Trump was viciously erased from the ballot by radical Democrats who seek to steal the election and take away our vote – FIGHT BACK! https://t.co/pajio9eYsB
— Elise Stefanik (@EliseStefanik) December 20, 2023
Trump has said that he will appeal the Colorado case to the Supreme Court and has denied the allegations against him.
“I’m not an Insurrectionist (‘PEACEFULLY & PATRIOTICALLY’), Crooked Joe Biden is!!!” he posted on Truth Social, referring to his speech during a rally on Jan. 6 in which he told supporters to “peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.”
State voter enrollment data shows that New York Democrats have a more than 2 to 1 registration edge over Republicans.
Trump lost New York in 2016 when Hillary Clinton won 59 percent of the vote and in 2020 when President Joe Biden won 60.9 percent of the vote.
