Indiana Supreme Court, Election Commission rule Rust can’t seek US Senate bid
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The Indiana Election Commission on Tuesday afternoon removed U.S. Senate candidate John Rust from Republican ballots for the May 7 primary.
Just minutes later, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled against him in a lawsuit over his ballot eligibility.
The developments deal a double blow to Rust’s candidacy. At this point, he says, he’s pinning his hopes on the U.S. Supreme Court.
Rust, the former chair of the board of egg supplier Rose Acre Farms Inc., faced challenges from six different Republicans. All cited a state law that says candidates must have voted in their party’s two most recent primaries.
Longtime state committee member Kyle Babcock says Rust had plenty of chances. “He failed to vote in the 2018 primary, one of the most hotly contested Republican primaries in history: Mike Braun, Todd Rokita, Luke Messer. If he can’t even vote in that primary, that’s a problem to me.”
Rust had been the only Republican other than U.S. Rep. Jim Banks to get on Indiana GOP ballots for a U.S. Senate bid. Rust and his team say the two-primary rule is unconstitutional.
Michelle Harter, the attorney for Rust, said, “We have a situation where John Rust has tendered over 11,000 petitions and has a lot of support in Indiana. We are going to disenfranchise all of those voters if he can’t be on the ballot, and we’re going to have a U.S. Senate race with one candidate.”
That didn’t convince the Indiana Election Commission during its livestreamed meeting from the Indiana Government Center South.
Commission member Suzannah Wilson Overholt said, “I mean, those are just the rules and the political parties have … the courts have recognized that they have a constitutional right to control who, to a certain extent, who gets to be affiliated with them in terms of being a nominee for the primary, and I mean, that’s, I mean, none of these arguments overcome that.”
The commission voted unanimously to remove Rust from the ballot.
Then the Indiana Supreme Court announced it had overturned a trial judge’s order that would have allowed Rust to appear on the ballot.
Those two actions would leave Banks unopposed on the Republican ballot if they stand.
Rust says he will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. “They’re trying to keep me off the ballot because I’m not under their control. They’re looking for a stooge. They’re looking for someone that Mitch McConnell controls.”
Rust wasn’t the only candidate struck from the ballot over the two-primary rule on Tuesday. Three republican U.S. House candidates — Jonathan Brown, Scott King and Sid Mahant — were kicked off the ballot for the same reason.