Cruz Wins Dismissal of Suit to Remove Him From Illinois Ballot

Republican presidential contender Ted Cruz fended off a lawsuit seeking to keep him off the Illinois primary ballot.

A supporter of rival candidate Ben Carson argued Cruz should be stricken from the ballot because he isn’t a “natural born citizen” as mandated by the Constitution to become president since he was born in Canada. The senator from Texas is fighting similar challenges in his home state as well as in New York, Alabama and Utah.

In the Illinois case, Cruz said the plaintiff failed to fulfill requirements for serving him and the state’s election board with the complaint. Judge Maureen Ward Kirby in Chicago agreed and threw out the suit.

The ruling comes amid Super Tuesday voting, with Republicans in 11 states choosing among five candidates. Challenges to Cruz’s eligibility gained traction after Republican front-runner Donald Trump started raising the issue in televised interviews. Cruz won in Iowa but lost to Donald Trump in New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada.

Cruz, born in Calgary in 1970, says he’s eligible to run because his mother was a U.S. citizen. His father is from Cuba. Many constitutional law experts have backed his view, though some disagree. The U.S. Supreme Court has never ruled on the issue.

Attorney Lawrence Joyce filed the suit after the Illinois State Board of Elections dismissed his challenge.

Joyce, of Poplar Grove, Illinois, said he supports underdog candidate Carson but said he isn’t affiliated with that campaign or any other. He said he’s trying to spare the Republican Party from disaster by booting out a candidate whose eligibility will be challenged by Democrats.

The case is Joyce v. Board of Elections of the State of Illinois, 2016OEL000011, Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois County Department (Chicago).