A Washington, D.C. law professor has come up with a new way to challenge the eligibility of Ted Cruz, who was born in Canada, to run for president.
Victor Williams is running for president himself.
He says that should help him get over the first hurdle that has so far caused other challengers to stumble — a lack of legal standing to sue.
Williams, who teaches at the Catholic University law school, has registered to run as a write-in candidate for the Republican nomination in nine states for the sole purpose of challenging the credentials of the man he calls “Canadian Cruz.”
He claims Cruz “has fraudulently represented himself as constitutionally qualified for the office of president” and argues that Cruz, who became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2014, does not meet the Constitution’s requirement to be a “natural born citizen.”
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An administrative law judge heard arguments from Williams and lawyers for Cruz on Monday. Judge Jeff Masin said he expects to issue a ruling Tuesday on the issues of standing and whether Cruz is a natural born citizen.
Williams attempted, but failed, to intervene in a Pennsylvania lawsuit on the citizenship issue. It was dismissed last week because the courts said the challenger in that case did not have standing to sue.
Federal courts require that those going to court must show that they would suffer an injury that’s concrete and particular to them. Suing simply on the basis of being a citizen and a taxpayer isn’t enough.
For the same reason, lower courts have rejected a lawsuit filed by a retired Utah lawyer, Walter Wagner, who says he has “a vested interest in insuring that all candidates for the position of president are legally qualified.”
Wagner has appealed his case to the U.S. Supreme Court.
But because Williams is a candidate himself, he argues that he can succeed where others have failed by showing that he would suffer a direct and concrete injury if an unqualified candidate were to be allowed to compete. In addition to New Jersey, Williams has also filed to run in California, Montana, Nebraska, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Washington and Wisconsin.
This story first appeared on NBCNews.com.
