Election Leader Confirms Former President Trump Will Appear On CA Ballot
Sacramento, CA — After calls by California Lt. Governor Eleni Kounalakis to remove former President Donald Trump’s name from the March Primary ballot, Secretary of State Shirley Weber confirms that the state’s voters will have a choice whether to vote for him in 2024.
Following recent actions in Colorado, Kounalakis sent a letter to Secretary of State Weber urging her to follow suit and prohibit Trump’s name from appearing. Weber immediately put out a response, saying, “It is incumbent upon my office to ensure that any action undertaken regarding any candidate’s inclusion or omission from our ballots be grounded firmly in the laws and processes in place in California and our Constitution.”
Some Democrats also praised the notion of removing Trump’s name from the ballot, citing the Colorado case. However, Governor Gavin Newsom criticized the idea, calling it a “political distraction,” and that candidates should instead be “defeated at the polls.” Republican leaders in the state have also come to the former President’s defense.
Weber did not provide further comment when she officially certified the upcoming March ballot on Thursday, but it includes former President Trump. He is one of nine Republicans who will appear along with Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Chris Christie, Ryan Binkley, Asa Hutchinson, Vivek Ramaswamy, David Stuckenberg, and Rachel Swift.
The Democratic primary will include President Joe Biden, along with challengers Dean Phillips, Marianne Williamson, Eban Cambridge, President R. Boddie, Gabriel Cornejo, Stephen Lyons, and Armando Perez Serrato.
