Florida Governor Ron DeSantis will not follow Vivek Ramaswamy’s lead. Following the Colorado Supreme Court ruling that Donald Trump will not be allowed on the ballot, the young tech entrepreneur and Trump acolyte announced he would be withdrawing from the Colorado primary in protest.
As is usual, the Florida governor did not rush to judgment.
The Hill reports:
Asked on Newsmax’s “Newsline” if he would follow Ramaswamy’s pledge after the state Supreme Court ruled to ban former President Trump from the ballot under the 14th Amendment, DeSantis said “no.”
“I think the case will get overturned by the [U.S.] Supreme Court, but I’ve qualified for all the ballots and I’m going to accumulate the delegates necessary,” DeSantis, the governor of Florida, predicted.
“That’s the whole name of the game in this situation, but I do anticipate that that decision will get reversed,” he added.
Ramaswamy’s vow to remove himself came in the wake of the Centennial State’s decision disqualifying Trump over his role in the January 6, 2021, riots on the Capitol, citing the 14th Amendment’s insurrection clause. The court ruled the former president participated in the insurrection through his false claims of election fraud and rallying of supporters.
There will likely be no reason to withdraw from the ballot in Colorado’s Republican primary. The Republican Party in the Centennial State has begun considering a switch to a caucus system to disburse nominating delegates.
Colorado GOP chairman @RepDaveWilliams says the state’s party will move to a caucus system if the courts try to keep Trump off the ballot. pic.twitter.com/OuEZL5AH65
— Abby D. Phillip (@abbydphillip) December 20, 2023
The move will not be without its challenges, however. NBC News noted, “The prospective switch, which would come with major hurdles, would ensure that Coloradans are still able to cast their vote for the former president after the state’s high court kicked him off the primary ballot — and that the state GOP would still able to award delegates to him at the national party’s nominating convention.
Making that change would require permission from the national Republican Party, preparations for a larger caucus in March, and cooperation from the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office, which runs elections in the state.
A switch to a caucus system would also depend on the outcome and timing of a prospective U.S. Supreme Court ruling on whether Trump’s name must remain off the Colorado primary ballot — unknowns that leave in question how, when and whether the state party would move forward with a change.”
The ruling to keep Trump from the ballot has been stayed until January 4, one day before the ballots need to be certified for the primary on March 4, 2024.
