INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The Indiana Supreme Court on Wednesday released its opinion on the case involving John Rust.

On Feb. 27, the Indiana Election Commission removed the U.S. Senate hopeful from Republican ballots for the May 7 primary, and the Indiana Supreme Court ruled against him in a lawsuit over his ballot eligibility.

In the 3-2 decision released Wednesday, Indiana’s justices said the state law requiring a candidate to have voted in past two party primaries does not violate the First Amendment.

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.

A part of the Indiana high court’s ruling said, “Appellee Rust, conversely, claims First Amendment associational rights of his own, to wield as a “sword,” id., to force his way on the ballot. And in that clash today, the shield checks the sword, as we find the minor requirements of the Affiliation Statute reflect an elegant balancing of First Amendment interests and are thus constitutionally sound.”

Rust on Wednesday shared a text with News 8’s Garrett Bergquist about the release of the justices’ opinion.

“With a 3-2 decision this obviously will eventually have to be settled by the United States Supreme Court for the ultimate decision on the law that bars 81% of Hoosiers from running for office. In the meantime the law was not in effect during the filing timeline so we expect the Indiana Election Commission’s unconstitutional removal to be set aside while this is adjudicated.”

This story was created in part from a script aired on WISH-TV.