In a significant decision, the Supreme Court has rejected an emergency appeal from Nevada’s Green Party to include presidential candidate Jill Stein on the ballot in the battleground state. The ruling, without any noted dissents, allows ballot preparation and printing to proceed without Stein and other Green Party candidates.
This outcome is a victory for Democrats, who had challenged the inclusion of the Green Party on the ballot. As reported by USA Today, the state’s Democratic party had sued to remove Stein after the Green Party submitted enough signatures for inclusion. While a lower state court initially ruled in favor of the Green Party, the state Supreme Court decided that the petition forms were faulty.
The ruling is particularly significant given Nevada’s history of close statewide races. In the 2020 election, President Joe Biden narrowly defeated former President Donald Trump by fewer than 35,000 votes in Nevada.
The Green Party was represented by Jay Sekulow, a Trump ally who was part of the president’s legal team during his first impeachment trial. As reported by the Washington Post, the Trump campaign is increasingly worried about the impact of third-party candidates siphoning votes away from Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee.
The Supreme Court’s decision has broader implications for the upcoming elections. Across the country, a network of Republican political operatives, lawyers, and their allies are working to influence the election in ways that favor Trump. Their goal is to support third-party candidates like Stein and Cornel West, who offer liberal voters an alternative and could potentially draw votes away from Harris.
In other news, the Trump campaign is also dealing with scandals plaguing Republican gubernatorial nominee Mark Robinson in North Carolina. CNN reported that Robinson made several bizarre comments on a porn forum between 2008 and 2012, including calling himself a “perv” and a “Black NAZI!” and expressing support for reinstating slavery.
Trump officials have tried to distance the former president from Robinson’s controversies. An official told Axios that the issues surrounding Robinson’s campaign are separate from Trump’s campaign.
The political landscape continues to evolve as candidates and their teams navigate scandals, court rulings, and strategic moves. The Supreme Court’s decision in Nevada is just one of many factors that could influence the outcome of the upcoming elections.
