Court: Rust can be removed from Republican ballot

The Indiana Supreme Court has ruled against Republican U.S. Senate candidate John Rust of Seymour in his bid to stay on the primary ballot.

Thursday, the court removed its injunction that originally allowed John Rust to run on the GOP ballot.

The Indiana Election Commission had originally ruled that Rust was prevented from running as a Republican due to a rule that a candidate must have voted in his particular party’s primary for the last two elections. Rust had voted in Democratic Party primaries before 2016, when he voted Republican, and he did not vote in 2020 due to the impact of COVID-19, he says.

Rust then sued Secretary of State Diego Morales over his primary access, which led to the injunction.

The election commission, Morales, and Jackson County Republican Party chairwoman Amanda Lowery challenged the injunction that allowed Rust to run

Rust set out to challenge Congressman Jim Banks for the Senate seat now held by Sen. Mike Braun seat. Banks has long argued Rust’s argument against the state’s party voting rule was not grounded in reality.

For Rust to actually be removed from the ballot, the Indiana Election Commission must now vote him off.

Story courtesy of Network Indiana and TTWN Media Networks