Michigan Supreme Court keeps Trump on ballot; rejects insurrectionist argument

LANSING — The Michigan Supreme Court has declined to hear a case arguing former President Donald Trump should be excluded from the state’s primary ballot, meaning the Republican frontrunner for the GOP nomination will remain a listed candidate.

Former President Donald Trump

The order issued Wednesday is in line with lower court rulings in Michigan, though at odds with a recent ruling by the Colorado Supreme Court.

The argument over whether Trump is an eligible candidate for president centers around whether his conduct around the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol should be considered engaging in insurrection.

In a Wednesday order, Michigan’s highest state court said it is “not persuaded that the present questions should be reviewed by this court.”

It refused to reconsider a mid-December decision by a three-judge state Court of Appeals panel. That ruling affirmed a lower court ruling saying neither the courts nor Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson can bar former President Donald Trump from being a candidate in Michigan’s Feb. 27 Republican primary.

Justice Elizabeth Welch, a Democratic appointee, dissented, citing the Colorado decision, among other issues.

Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @paulegan4.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan Supreme Court says Trump will stay on state primary ballot