Law prof enters GOP presidential race to challenge Ted Cruz's eligibility
A law professor in Washington, D.C., believes he has standing to challenge Ted Cruz’s eligibility to be president after entering the GOP presidential primary as a write-in candidate in nine states.
Victor Williams, a clinical assistant professor at Catholic University of America’s Columbus School of Law, has filed ballot disqualification charges against Cruz in the states of California, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Washington and Wisconsin. As a result of his challenge, New Jersey has scheduled a hearing on Cruz’s eligibility for Monday, report the Volokh Conspiracy, Washington Times and the Dallas Morning News Trail Blazers Blog.
Williams, a Donald Trump supporter, believes Cruz is ineligible under the constitutional “natural born citizen” requirement because he was born in Canada to an American mother. Cruz was both an American and Canadian citizen as a result of the birth, though he renounced his Canadian citizenship in 2014.
In an article for HuffPost Politics, Williams maintains that a “natural born citizen” must be born in the United States. Several voter challenges to Cruz’s eligibility have been dismissed for lack of standing. Williams believes his candidacy will give him “competitor candidate standing.”
According to Washington Times, “Most legal scholars say Mr. Cruz is on safe ground, but several high-profile scholars say it’s not a slam dunk.”
