Former President Donald Trump’s legal team as early as Tuesday could appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court the Colorado Supreme Court decision barring him from the GOP primary ballot under the 14th Amendment.
Trump’s team has already said it intends to appeal the decision, which said that Trump violated Section 3 of the amendment, which bars insurrectionists from holding office, over his role in inciting the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
His team also plans on appealing the Maine secretary of state’s decision keeping him off that state’s primary ballot on the same grounds — to that state’s highest court.
Both rulings have been stayed to allow appeals to be considered. The Colorado Republican Party has already appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court that state’s high court decision.
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It’s unclear what the U.S. Supreme Court plans to do, but taking up any appeal would likely freeze many of the legal challenges to Trump’s candidacy over the 14th Amendment taking place in over a dozen states.
Former President of the United States, Donald Trump, speaks to the press during a break of the ongoing civil fraud trial at the New York State Supreme Court in New York, Dec. 7, 2023.
Sarah Yenesel/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Beyond Trump’s legal setbacks in Colorado and Maine, the former president has found success in places like Michigan and California, which have swatted away bids to keep him of those states’ primary ballots.
Trump has railed against the Colorado and Maine decisions, including calling the first state’s ruling a “sham” and a sign the country was turning into a “banana republic” before claiming — without evidence — that national Democrats are behind the rulings.
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The decisions have sparked a wave of reactions, with even some Democrats arguing they go too far.
“I voted to impeach Donald Trump for his role in the January 6th insurrection. I do not believe he should be re-elected as President of the United States. However, we are a nation of laws, therefore until he is actually found guilty of the crime of insurrection, he should be allowed on the ballot,” said Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine.
Even some of Trump’s GOP primary rivals have expressed frustration with the ruling, noting it could help the former president solidify support among his base.
“It makes him a martyr. You know, he’s very good at playing ‘Poor me, poor me,’ he’s always complaining,” said former New Jersey Republican Gov. Chris Christie.
“I don’t think Donald Trump needs to be president. I think I need to be president. I think that’s good for the country. But I will beat him fair and square. We don’t need to have judges making these decisions, we need voters to make these decisions,” said former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who is rising in the polls but still double digits behind Trump in the primary.
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It’s very possible the rulings pose no threat to Trump’s primary chances given his double-digit leads in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, where a clean sweep of the three states could set him on a glide path to the nomination before Colorado and Maine even hold their nominating contests.
Police in Northern Colorado are investigating after a crash involving multiple vehicles claimed the life of a pedestrian.
The Greeley Police Department received reports of a crash at the 5500 block of Highway 34 around 5:50 p.m. on Monday. When officers arrived, they discovered that two vehicles were involved in a crash with a 19-year-old woman who attempted to walk across the highway.
Police said there was no crosswalk in the area, and she was struck by the driver’s side of a Chevrolet Blazer. The impact knocked the woman into the inside lane, where she was struck by a Chevrolet Traverse. A witness told officers they saw the woman crossing the roadway ‘as traffic arrived at her location.’
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First responders attempted life-saving measures on the woman at the scene before she was taken to North Colorado Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead. GPD said the Weld County Coroner’s Office will release her identity at a later time.
Neither driver involved was injured in the crash. Police said they don’t expect charges to be filed against those drivers at the moment, but the case remains under investigation. The police department asked anyone with information on the crash to contact Officer Ed Kubala at Edward.Kubala@greeleypd.com.
Colorado’s best ski deal? Maybe one that costs nothing at all. At Steamboat Springs’ Howelsen Hill, “Sunday Funday is taken to an entirely new level,” reads the city webpage for Ski Free Sundays. Yes, on Sundays throughout the season, visitors need only to walk into the ticket office to grab a pass at no charge. […]
While Colorado ranks near the middle of U.S. states for carbon emissions per capita, it still produces enough CO2 per person to rival countries on the World Bank’s list of top emitters internationally.
In 2023, Colorado produced 13.9 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions per capita. If it had been ranked by the World Bank during the same year, Colorado would have placed 14th among the more than 200 countries on the list, just behind Canada, at 14.1, and just ahead of the U.S. as a whole, at 13.7.
Among U.S. states, Colorado ranked 26th in carbon emissions per capita. Wyoming had the highest per capita emissions in the country, at 92.9 metric tons, while Maryland had the lowest, at 7.8.
Most of Colorado’s emissions come from energy production and consumption, primarily natural gas and oil production and electric power production and consumption.
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This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
The Colorado Sun partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims.
Sources
References:
Colorado State Energy Profile, U.S. Energy Information Administration, accessed in December 2025. Source link
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2023 Colorado Statewide Inventory of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks, pg. 128, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, November 2024. Source link
Senate Bill 24-230 Oil and Gas Production Fees, Colorado General Assembly, accessed in December, 2025. Source link
Senate Bill 23-016 Greenhouse Gas Reduction Measures, Colorado General Assembly, accessed in December 2025. Source link
Carbon dioxide emissions, World Bank Group, 2024, accessed in December 2025. Source link
Energy-related CO2 emission data tables, U.S. Energy Information Administration, accessed in December 2025. Source link
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Type of Story: Fact-Check
Checks a specific statement or set of statements asserted as fact.
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Cassis Tingley is a Denver-based freelance journalist. She’s spent the last three years covering topics ranging from political organizing and death doulas in the Denver community to academic freedom and administrative accountability at the…
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