OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
A Wisconsin judge has denied a request to dismiss a civil case against 10 fictitious electors for former President Donald Trump and two of Trump’s attorneys.
The case revolves around an attempt to rig the 2020 presidential election by submitting phony elector slates for Trump in seven targeted swing states, including Wisconsin, where President Joe Biden won.
“The fake elector scheme was part of Trump’s team’s efforts to keep the former president in power, and it was a key focus of the latest indictment against him. Federal prosecutors claimed in the indictment the fake elector scheme originated in Wisconsin,” The Hill reported.
“The suit in Wisconsin was filed by two Democratic electors and a voter, and it alleged the defendants were part of Trump’s conspiracy to stay in power. They are seeking $2.4 million and are asking the judge to bar the GOP electors from serving as electors again. One of the defendants, attorney Kenneth Chesebro, is understood to be one of the unnamed coconspirators mentioned in the federal indictment against Trump,” the outlet added.
“Many GOP electors who submitted false certifications for Trump claim they thought they were signing the certificate in case the legal challenges were successful. The case is scheduled to go to trial just two months before the 2024 election, beginning Sept. 3, 2024, and lasting one month,” the outlet continued. “The charges come after Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced felony charges against 16 Republicans in July related to the fake elector scheme in her state. All 16 pleaded not guilty.”
The ruling comes as a new poll found that Trump and President Joe Biden are tied in a hypothetical presidential rematch.
Both Biden and Trump would get 43% of the vote overall if the 2024 presidential election were held today. Nevertheless, voters continue to have high levels of disapproval for both men, with 54% disapproving of Biden and 55% of voters disapproving of Trump, according to a New York Times/Siena College poll.
The national poll was released less than six months before the first primary and roughly 15 months before the election on November 5, 2024. Biden and Trump are still in the lead for their respective party’s presidential nominations.
The survey found that Trump received 54% of the support from GOP primary voters, while Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis came in second with just 17% of the vote.
In the Democratic primary, Biden currently enjoys a larger margin of victory with 64% of the vote compared to his rivals Marianne Williamson and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
However, the data shows that the majority of Democratic voters are still seeking a strong challenger to Biden, with half of those who plan to participate in the primary preferring a different candidate for 2024.
Of those, 39% said that Biden’s advanced age of 80 was the main reason they would have chosen someone else. Roughly 20% said Biden’s subpar job performance was their justification, while 14% merely wanted a replacement.
Only 5% of respondents said that Biden’s mental capacity was a reason to vote for another candidate.
Trump not only maintains significant influence within the Republican Party but, according to a recent report, he is also dominating the early primary race in a manner unparalleled in modern history.
Polling experts who spoke to The Daily Caller claimed that Trump’s commanding lead in most surveys is so overwhelming that it must be disheartening for the rest of the GOP contenders.
The outlet noted that the current Republican primary cycle is unlike any other, with a former president leading the race, holding a substantial advantage in the polls, and facing competition from his former vice president. Additionally, Trump carries the weight of two federal indictments.
“This GOP primary is truly unprecedented because Trump is not technically an incumbent, but Republican voters seem to be treating him as at least a quasi-incumbent,” Kyle Kondik, a polling analyst and managing editor for the nonpartisan Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, told the outlet.
Kondik noted further that Trump’s legal challenges have also revealed a “unique” aspect to the current primary season. His indictments could eventually generate “fatigue” within GOP voting ranks resulting in polling declines, but the expert added that he doesn’t see that happening currently.
Jon McHenry, a vice president at North Star Opinion Research and a GOP polling analyst, underscored the extraordinary nature of the Republican primary by emphasizing that Trump’s impact on reshaping the party, coupled with his indictment by the Manhattan district attorney, has played a substantial role in the former president’s impressive standing in the polls.
Nathan Klein, a pollster for OnMessage Inc., told the outlet: “Is there a comparable election? Nope. And that’s fine. The one thing Americans, and especially the GOP primary electorate, don’t want is to do things the way they have been done.”
John McLaughlin, CEO and partner of McLaughlin & Associates, added: “Compared to Trump’s success — on the economy, on national security, on the border, and other issues — Biden’s failures are glaring, and there’s really a lot of buyer’s remorse. President Trump is leading in the national popular vote, and Republicans have not seen that since 2004.”
