In a significant ruling Monday, a Wake County Superior Court judge denied the North Carolina Democratic Party's emergency request to prevent the newly formed We the People Party from appearing on the state’s 2024 ballot. The ruling comes after nearly 90 minutes of heated legal arguments, centered on whether presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. used the party as a means to bypass North Carolina’s petition requirements for independent candidates.
Judge Keith Gregory, a Democrat appointed by Governor Roy Cooper, rejected the Democratic Party's claim, stating that it would be "unconscionable" to deny a candidate the ability to leverage existing state law to gain ballot access. Gregory emphasized that the state’s laws were followed in the process of certifying We the People as a legitimate political party.
"The plaintiffs have a quarrel with the North Carolina law itself," remarked Oliver Hall of the Center for Competitive Democracy, who represented We the People during the hearing. Hall argued that the Democratic Party's challenge lacked a factual or legal basis, as North Carolina law does not prohibit a new political party from being formed with the intent of supporting a single candidate.
The North Carolina Democratic Party, represented by attorney Raymond Bennett, had argued that We the People was merely a "subterfuge" created to circumvent the state's more stringent signature requirements for independent candidates. Under state law, independent candidates must collect signatures from 1.5% of voters in the last gubernatorial election, while new political parties need only gather signatures from 0.25% of voters.
Democrats contended that Kennedy’s campaign took advantage of this discrepancy, reducing the required number of signatures from 83,188 to just 13,865 by forming We the People. The party claimed this maneuver could set a dangerous precedent, encouraging future candidates to create single-candidate political parties to exploit more lenient ballot access rules.
However, Judge Gregory pushed back on the notion that party affiliation should determine the outcome of a legal dispute, calling the suggestion "somewhat egregious." He confirmed with Special Deputy Attorney General Terence Steed that the State Board of Elections had followed proper legal procedures in certifying We the People as a political party in July.
In addition to nominating Kennedy as its presidential candidate, We the People has also selected Jeff Scott for the state Senate District 40 race and Mark Ortiz for Rowan County commissioner. Both candidates were present at Monday's hearing.
We the People’s attorneys, including those from the Center for Competitive Democracy and the More Voter Choice Fund, filed a motion on Friday to dismiss the Democratic Party’s lawsuit, arguing that the party's establishment is protected under the First Amendment. They contended that the lawsuit was "frivolous," noting that We the People had met all statutory requirements for recognition as a political party in North Carolina.
The Republican National Committee also opposed the Democrats' proposed injunction, stating that the We the People Party has a separate existence beyond Kennedy’s presidential campaign and plans to run candidates in future elections.
The State Board of Elections filed its own brief opposing the injunction, asserting that state law does not restrict a new political party from being formed to support a specific candidate. The Board argued that the evidence showed We the People was not created solely to place Kennedy on the ballot.
Judge Gregory, appointed to the Superior Court by Governor Cooper in 2018, previously served as a Wake County District Court judge under former Governor Bev Perdue.
As the legal battle unfolds, We the People remains on track to appear on North Carolina's 2024 ballot, with implications that could reverberate in future elections.
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