Saying she understands the final decision will rest elsewhere, a Cook County judge has ruled that she believes former President Donald Trump should be disqualified from appearing on the presidential ballot in Illinois.
On Feb. 28, Cook County Circuit Judge Tracie Porter issued the decision in her handling of an appeal of the Illinois State Board of Elections decision to essentially punt on the question of whether Trump's name should stay on the ballot, as the state deals with anti-Trump objectors who say he should be disqualified as an "insurrectionist" under the Fourteenth Amendment.
Porter has placed her decision on hold, pending a later decision by a higher court on appeal. The case could ultimately land before the Illinois Supreme Court, unless the U.S. Supreme Court weighs in first.
Cook County Circuit Judge Tracie Porter
| Cookcountydems.com/
The case found its way before Porter after objectors to the candidacy of Trump in the 2024 presidential election appealed the decision of the ISBE. Earlier this year, the ISBE determined it lacked the authority to address the question of whether Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment should be read to disqualify Trump from again seeking office in the U.S.
In her decision, Porter relied heavily on the reasoning expressed by the Colorado state Supreme Court, which had also determined Trump, the likely Republican Party nominee for President and the current frontrunner according to many polls, should be kicked off the ballot.
The Colorado ruling was the first in the nation on numerous challenges to Trump's candidacy filed on the same novel constitutional claims that any elected official determined by a court to have participated or encouraged the riot at Capitol Hill on Jan. 6, 2021, should be forbidden from ever seeking or holding office in the U.S. under Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment.
That section, inserted into the Constitution in the years following the Civil War, forbids anyone "who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States" from holding any federal government office, including President or Vice President, if they "have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against" the U.S.
In the Colorardo ruling, that state's Supreme Court, on partisan lines, with Democrats in the majority, declared their belief that Trump had encouraged "insurrection" against the U.S. government on Jan. 6, 2021, when he addressed his supporters in person and online, and should be forbidden from seeking the presidency.
That decision, in the case known as Anderson v Griswold, was immediately appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which is expected to issue a ruling in coming weeks or months. The decision could turn on the legal question of whether a court in any one state should have the power to determine who can and cannot seek the office of President of the United States.
In the meantime, other challenges before other states' courts and election officials continue to play out.
In the Illinois ruling, Porter said she believed the Colorado Supreme Court had answered the legal and constitutional questions surrounding Trump's candidacy correctly.
Specifically, Porter declared she agreed with the Democratic majority on the Colorado Supreme Court that no conviction on the specific allegation of "insurrection" is needed for courts to apply Amendment 14, Section 3 to a candidate like Trump. Rather, she said, that section is "self-executing," and courts can determine the veracity of the allegations.
As such, she said a court's determination that a candidate has engaged in "insurrection" is no different than determining that a candidate doesn't meet other constitutional qualifications to hold office, such as citizenship, residency and age.
"This Court concludes that the goal of determining the meaning and application of Section 3 excludes from office as punishment to leaders who swore an oath to protect, defend and uphold the constitution, that such provision is self-executing, and that Section 3 is a qualification requirement used to consider to disqualify a candidate for the office of President of the United States," Porter wrote.
The judge said she reached that decision realizing "the magnitude of this decision and it (sic) impact on the upcoming primary Illinois elections."
She further ruled that Trump should be disqualified under Illinois law, because, in her opinion, Trump did not truthfully swear on election papers filed with the Illinois Board of Elections that he was allowed by law to hold office, given the findings of congressional Democrats in their hearings concerning the Jan. 6, 2021, riots. Republicans have decried those hearings as a partisan sham.
Porter further chided the ISBE electoral board who handled the Trump case, essentially calling them cowards for refusing to rule in what she viewed as the correct way, based on the findings of the Colorado Supreme Court.
"Of note, the Electoral Board's refusal to find any factual determinations regarding the events of January 6, 2021, was shocking given the evidentiary records," Porter wrote in a footnote to her decision. "However, the members of the Electoral Board, in this Court's summation, made is clear (sic) from the hearing transcrip that they wanted to get as far away from this case as possible, likely given its notoriety."
The Trump campaign has indicated it will appeal the decision, even as they await the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in the Colorado case.
Porter has served on the Cook County Circuit Court since 2021, when she was appointed to the post by the Democratic majority on the Illinois Supreme Court. She then won election to a six-year term on the court in 2022. In that race, she was endorsed by the Cook County Democratic Party, which is under the control of powerful Chicago Democratic politicians, including Cook County Board President and Cook County Democratic Party Chairman Toni Preckwinkle.
While not an absolute guarantee of victory, winning a spot on the official slate of candidates endorsed by the Cook County Democratic Party virtually assures the win in overwhelmingly Democratic Cook County.
Candidates for circuit judge in Cook County who receive the official party endorsement typically enjoy a massive fundraising advantage and the support of the party's army of campaign workers to turn out the vote. By some estimates, judicial candidates who buck the party and challenge the Cook County Democrats' official endorsed candidate have won less than 6% of the time.
And for decades, the key to securing that official party has remained the same: Swearing loyalty and support for the Democratic Party, and particularly to party bosses and other prominent Chicago Democrats.
It is not known if Porter has signed such a pledge.
Porter currently serves in the County Division of the Cook County Circuit Court, where she regularly hears tax and property cases. The County Division also handles election-related cases and appeals.
Before being assigned to the County Division following her election in 2022, Porter served in the Traffic Division in 2021.
Porter was rated "qualified" by judicial evaluation organizations in 2022. And she has taught as a professor law in several law schools, including at Drake University.