GOP Senate Candidate Removed From Indiana Primary Ballot

John Rust speaks with reporters following oral arguments before the Indiana Supreme Court, on Feb. 12, 2024. Michael Conroy/AP Photo

Indiana Republican hopeful John Rust will not appear on the GOP primary ballot for U.S. Senate in May 2024 after the state’s election commission said he failed to meet basic voting requirements in the past two primaries.

The state’s bipartisan election commission—composed of two Republicans and two Democrats appointed by the governor—issued the unanimous decision on Feb. 27, following a meeting in Indianapolis.

“(Rust) could have done all kinds of things ... he could have played by the rules,” Commissioner Suzannah Wilson Overholt, a Democrat, said after the decision. “If you want to run as a candidate in this state, there are rules you have to follow.”

The commission’s decision was based on Indiana law requiring candidates to have either voted in their party’s past two primaries or to have received the approval of a county party chair in order to appear on the primary ballot.

Mr. Rust voted as a Republican in the 2016 primary but as a Democrat in 2012. He filed a lawsuit (pdf) challenging the Indiana law in September 2023.

In his lawsuit, Mr. Rust, an egg farmer, said he was a “lifelong Hoosier and a Republican business owner with deep ties to the community” as well as a “lifelong Republican and has donated over $10,000 to Republican candidates.”

He said he didn’t vote in the 2020 Republican primary due to the lack of competitive Republican races in Jackson County.

‘Vague, Unconstitutional’

The state law, he argued, is “unconstitutional” and “vague” and “creates a cycle of voter disenfranchisement” because his county party chair “emphatically refuses” to certify him to appear on the primary ballot.

“There are no choices on the ballot so Hoosiers do not vote in primaries. Then Hoosiers are precluded from running for office because they did not vote in primaries,” his lawsuit stated. “The statute makes it so only a small percentage of Hoosiers and those hand-selected by the party chair are eligible to run for office.”

In December, Marion County Judge Patrick Dietrick agreed with Mr. Rust, ruling that he should be allowed on the ballot because the primary voting restriction was “unconstitutional.”

The law “unduly burdens Hoosiers’ long-recognized right to freely associate with the political party of one’s choosing and to cast one’s vote effectively,” Judge Dietrick wrote in his ruling (pdf).

While the Indiana Supreme Court stayed Judge Dietrick’s ruling pending its own decision, it ultimately rejected (pdf) Mr. Rust’s legal challenge to the law barring his candidacy on Feb. 27, meaning he cannot remain on the GOP ballot.

Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.) listens during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol, on Jan. 25, 2023. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

No written ruling explaining the decision has yet been issued. Both decisions leave Rep. Jim Banks as the only GOP candidate in the running to replace Sen. Mike Braun, who is vacating the seat to run for governor.

The Indiana Republican Party and former President Donald Trump have endorsed Mr. Banks in the Senate race.

Following the commission’s ruling, Mr. Rust issued a statement on X (formerly Twitter), saying he is considering appealing the ruling in the nation’s highest court.

“Today proved that the political insiders are continuing to rig our elections. It’s this kind of disregard for Hoosiers that inspired me to run for the U.S. Senate in the first place,” Mr. Rust wrote.

“We will be appealing this all the way up to the United States Supreme Court if necessary. Especially considering that this hearing had a predetermined outcome. I will never stop fighting for Hoosiers,” he added.

The 2024 Indiana primary is set to take place on May 7. Voter registration ends on April 8.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.