It should be up to the voters and not the Colorado Supreme Court to decide who will be the state's Republican nominee for president in 2024, Colorado Republicans Vera Ortegon and Hope Scheppelman told Newsmax Wednesday.
Ortegon, the Republican National Committee's national committeewoman for Colorado, and Scheppelman, the vice chair of Colorado's Republican Party, appeared on "Rob Schmitt Tonight."
On Tuesday, Colorado's high court ruled former President Donald Trump was ineligible for the state's 2024 GOP primary ballot because he engaged in an insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, at the U.S. Capitol. The court relied on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which disqualifies from office those who engage in insurrection against the Constitution after taking an oath to support it.
"It is a troublesome decision because it will take the country into unchartered territory," Ortegon said. "But most important for us, for me as a citizen of Colorado, it will not allow all the candidates to be represented on the ballot for voters to vote whoever they chose.
"It is the decision of the voters who the next presidential candidate will be. It is not the decision of the court [and] is not a decision of any appointed government official. It is us, the voters, who make the decision who this presidential candidate would be. They did a terrible mistake."
Scheppelman said the GOP might turn to a caucus format and suspend the primary if the court's decision holds. Trump is appealing the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.
"We're looking at a caucus and bringing it back to the voters and really trying to figure out how we can continue to fight for that No. 1 candidate, our president, Donald Trump," she said. "It is remarkable what happened [Tuesday]."
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Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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