The Wyoming Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a retired Laramie attorney’s attempt to remove former President Donald Trump from future election ballots, at the attorney’s own request.
But Tim Newcomb, the man who brought the petition, told Cowboy State Daily on Tuesday that he now plans to challenge Secretary of State Chuck Gray's eligibility to hold state office.
“I deeply appreciate the court’s ruling and will refile against Secretary Gray based on the same grounds (with which) I had moved to disqualify as ineligible Mr. Trump and Ms. Lummis,” Newcomb said. “And I look forward to it."
Newcomb elaborated, saying his challenge to get Gray off future ballots will hinge on the 14th Amendment’s disqualifying language, which can apply to state office-holders. Newcomb theorized that Gray is unfit to hold office under the amendment's Section 3.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 9-0 this month that Colorado — and any other state — can't disqualify federal office-holders under the 14th Amendment. The ruling discouraged Newcomb and obliterated his action in which he'd called Trump and U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyoming, unfit for office.
But part of it encouraged him as well, Newcomb said.
"We conclude that states may disqualify persons holding or attempting to hold state office," says the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Trump v. Anderson.
Gray holds a state, not a federal office, Newcomb noted.
Gray countered in a Tuesday text to Cowboy State Daily.
“Newcomb is a radical Leftist and this is how the radical Left operates now,” wrote Gray. “The radical Left doesn't want to let voters decide who will represent us and that's why they file these frivolous lawsuits. This is abuse of process. It is shameful that Newcomb continues to weaponize the judicial system against the people of Wyoming. But just like Trump I will continue to stand for what is right.”
Trump Is Federal, Gray Is State
Newcomb’s earlier lawsuit, filed Nov. 1, 2023, asked the district court judge to bar Gray from allowing Trump or Lummis, both Republicans, from appearing on Wyoming’s ballots in the future. He'd accused both Trump and Lummis of violating their oaths of office.
Albany County District Court Judge Misha Westby dismissed the case in January, saying neither candidate was yet on any state ballot and the issue wasn’t ripe.
Still, while Newcomb recognized the case’s mootness following that ruling, he asked the high court to weigh other components of the case that may “evade review” with the bigger dispute answered.
The Wyoming Supreme Court did not do that.
Its Monday dismissal order was one sentence long.
‘Outrageously Wrong’
Gray, a Trump endorsee, celebrated the dismissal of the anti-Trump case in a Tuesday press release, saying he’s “extremely pleased with the dismissal.”
He called Newcomb’s lawsuit “outrageously wrong.”
“Radical leftists and liberal elites have tried everything they can to weaponize the 14th Amendment against Trump and the American people, but this dismissal marks continued vindication for the truth and for liberty,” said Gray.
In the case of Anderson v. Trump which prompted the U.S. Supreme Court’s unanimous decision in favor of congressional enforcement — for federal office-holders — of the disqualifying factors under the 14th Amendment, four of the six plaintiffs were in fact Republican voters (two were unaffiliated).
“As secretary of state, I will always fight to ensure the people of Wyoming can choose who (sic) to elect for themselves,” Gray said.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
