Broward political provocateur challenges Trump’s eligibility for Florida ballot
A longtime South Florida activist is suing to block Donald Trump from the state’s 2024 presidential ballot, seizing on a contentious legal argument that has already led to the former president being struck from the ticket in Colorado and Maine.
The four-page lawsuit, filed in Broward County Circuit Court by Chaz Stevens, a well-known provocateur known for stunts like installing “Festivus” poles in state Capitols, argues that Trump is ineligible to hold the presidency under a provision of the 14th Amendment that prohibits people who have engaged in insurrection against the U.S. from serving in federal office after previously taking an oath to defend the Constitution.
Trump hasn’t been convicted of a crime — a fact that Stevens’ lawsuit acknowledges. But it also argues that a criminal conviction isn’t necessary for Trump to be disqualified under the 14th Amendment.
The lawsuit’s claim echoes an argument made in dozens of other lawsuits filed across the country since Trump announced his 2024 presidential bid over a year ago. Judges in states like Michigan and Minnesota have thrown out similar disqualification challenges. Two federal challenges in Florida based on the 14th Amendment have already been dismissed.
But last month, in Colorado, the state Supreme Court ruled that Trump was disqualified from holding office again because of his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and his role he played in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. Maine’s Secretary of State Shenna Bellows followed suit a week later, ruling that Trump had engaged in insurrection with his actions surrounding the Jan. 6 attack.
Stevens, who is representing himself, told the Miami Herald that he got the idea to file the lawsuit after seeing similar challenges in other states, particularly Louisiana, where a resident named Ashley Reeb brought a challenge last week to Trump’s ballot eligibility.
Similar to that lawsuit, which names Louisiana Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin as the defendant, Stevens’ lawsuit names Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd as the defendant. Stevens said that the goal of the legal action is to force state officials to stake out a position on the issue of whether Trump should be disqualified from the ballot.
“It comes down to this: this is our country and you’re either in the game or you’re not in the game, but you can’t just sit on the sidelines,” Stevens said. “If I just write them an email, they’re going to ignore me. Maybe they tell me no, but at least that’ll be a response. Crystalize the issue for us.”
At least for now, Stevens doesn’t have any formal legal representation in the case. He said he started a fundraising page on the website GoFundMe in order to help pay for the costs of hiring a lawyer and arguing a court case.
A spokesperson for Trump’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit.
Trump has already filed an appeal in the Maine case. His campaign appealed the Colorado decision to the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday. Legal experts widely expect the court to take up the case, which could force the justices to decide the issue nationwide.