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John Rust’s legal challenge over Indiana’s party affiliation statute is officially over.
In June, he appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States — seeking review of the Indiana Supreme Court’s split decision that stymied his candidacy to run for U.S. Senate as a Republican this year.
But SCOTUS considered the 217-page petition last month and denied it without comment on Oct. 7.
He had argued that the justices should revisit Indiana’s “harsh ballot access laws” that keep him “and over 81% of all Hoosiers off of primary ballots.”
The basis for the state panel’s decision was an Indiana party affiliation law that prohibits candidates from running whose last two primary votes don’t match the party they wish to represent.
He said the court only accepts 1% of cases so the rejection was not surprising but disappointing.
“It is unfortunate that the U.S. Supreme Court is not going to take this opportunity to clarify ballot access law because issues still remain. The split Indiana Supreme Court opinion is far from clear and thus, ballot access issues will continue to recur in Indiana,” Rust said in a statement.
While his federal maneuver failed, Rust said he will continue to fight for ballot access at the state level.
“This is not and has never been about one man’s ballot access. It is about ALL Hoosier voters who are disenfranchised and about our state of Indiana having the lowest voter turnout in the nation. I will never stop fighting for Hoosiers to have choices on our ballots.”
Ryan Shouse, who represented Jackson County Republican Party Chair Amanda Lowery on behalf of Lewis and Wilkins, LLP, said the results shows Indiana’s reasonable requirements to appear on a primary ballot are constitutionally sound.
“We fought to protect the validity of these reasonable requirements from a repeated Democrat voter who tried to buy a seat at the table in a Republican primary instead of playing by the rules,” he said.
Rust sought for months to challenge U.S. Rep. Jim Banks for the GOP U.S. Senate nomination, but a state law requires a candidate’s two most recent primary votes align with their preferred party — a bar Rust didn’t meet. The Seymour egg farmer voted Republican in 2016 and Democrat in 2012. 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.
He sued to gain access to the Republican ballot, and Marion County Superior Court Judge Patrick J. Dietrick found in December that the two-primary requirement is unconstitutional. But the state appealed, and the Indiana Supreme Court and Indiana Election Commission separately found him ineligible in February rulings.
The Indiana Capital Chronicle is an independent, not-for-profit news organization that covers state government, policy and elections.
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