John Rust leaves the courtroom Wednesday Nov. 1 after a hearing on his case to get on the Republican primary ballot for U.S. Senate. (Niki Kelly/Indiana Capital Chronicle)
INDIANAPOLIS – A candidate for Congress won an injunction from a Marion County court late Thursday after the judge found a state law limiting who can run on a primary ballot is unconstitutional.
He also simultaneously denied the state’s motion to dismiss — a win for the underdog campaign.
“‘Elections belong to the people. It’s their decision,’” the court ruling from Marion County Superior Court Judge Patrick J. Dietrick reads, quoting Indiana-raised attorney and former U.S. President Abraham Lincoln. “It is with this purpose in mind that the court renders its decision.”
John Rust, of Seymour, running to succeed U.S. Sen. Mike Braun, currently can’t appear on the Republican ballot because of a law prohibiting candidates whose last two primary votes don’t match the party they wish to represent.
Rust sued to gain access to the Republican ballot, saying the measure barred the vast majority of Hoosiers from running under their preferred party — an argument that seemed to sway the court.
“This is a victory for the 80% who are banned from running for political office, and I know they don’t like me saying that, but it’s the absolute truth,” Rust told the Indiana Capital Chronicle, citing a Pew Research Center analysis of Indiana’s party affiliation.
Dietrick also cited that research in his filing.
“When the immense power of the state is turned toward and upon its citizens in such a way that it imperils a sacred and cherished right of those same citizens, the state’s actions must be for an articulated compelling and pressing reason, and it must be exercised in the most transparent and least restrictive and least intrusive ways possible,” he said.
Rust’s two most recent primary votes were Republican in 2016 and Democrat in 2012 — meaning he can’t appear on the Republican ballot for the 2024 May primary election. The law allows an exception, should the county’s party chair grant it. Jackson County Republican Party Chair Amanda Lowery elected not to do so in this case because of the two-primary rule, according to the filing.
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