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STATEWIDE — One GOP Senate candidate may no longer be allowed on the May primary ballot.
In a ruling issued Thursday, the Indiana Supreme Court removed the injunction that originally allowed John Rust to run on the GOP ballot. Rust set out to challenge Congressman Jim Banks for Senator Mike Braun’s seat in Washington.
Senator Braun is running for governor of Indiana, which means he’ll have to give up his seat in Congress.
Rust originally sued Secretary of State Diego Morales over his primary access. Rust was prevented from running as a Republican due to a rule that states a candidate must have voted in his particular party’s primary for the last two elections.
John Rust did not meet that requirement as he voted for Democrat candidates whom he said he knew personally.
Congressman Banks has long argued Rust’s argument against the state’s party voting rule was not grounded in reality.
For John Rust to actually be removed from the ballot, the Indiana Election Commission must vote him off. That commission is made of two Republicans and two Democrats – both parties Rust has had affiliations with in the past.
