On September 28, a U.S. District Court Magistrate in West Virginia recommended that no Temporary Restraining Order be issued in Castro v Warner, s.d., 2:23cv-598. This is one of the cases filed by John Anthony Castro, a Republican candidate for president, to prevent former President Donald Trump from appearing on various Republican presidential primary ballots.

The magistrate says that Castro has not provided evidence that he is being harmed by keeping Trump on the ballot. Castro argues that more campaign contributions and future votes would be available to him if Trump weren’t running, but the Magistrate says there isn’t evidence so far to support that idea. Here is the ruling, which is quite similar to a South Carolina ruling issued on September 27.

Castro is now permitted to respond. The judge will decide on whether to accept the Magistrate’s recommendation.

The magistrate also says the West Virginia Republican Party may intervene in the case.

Alaska lets candidates file for primaries very early. Already two candidates have paid the filing fee and completed the paperwork to be listed on the August 20, 2024 primary ballot for U.S. House. See them listed here on the Alaska Elections Division’s website.

One of the two early filers is Richard Grayson, whose ballot label will be “No Labels.” He is almost certainly the first candidate in any state who has already qualified to be on a 2024 ballot using that label. In Alaska, there are no party nominees, except presidential electors in the general election, so it would not be accurate to say that Grayson is the No Labels nominee. Grayson will not appear on the November 2024 ballot for U.S. House in Alaska unless he places in the top four in August.

On September 20, U.S. District Court Judge Susan Watters declined to grant injunctive relief to John Anthony Castro, who wants to bar former President Donald Trump from the Montana ballot, because he has not served notice of his lawsuit on Trump. See her 3-page order here.

Castro, who has many similar lawsuits in different states, has already complained that whenever anyone tries to serve papers at the Trump residence, the papers are refused.