Donald Trump’s appearance in Thursday night’s GOP debate in Cleveland just made it harder for him to run as an independent candidate for president. Ohio is one of several states that have “sore loser” rules prohibiting a candidate from appearing on the ballot as an independent or third-party candidate after they have previously declared themselves a candidate in another party. Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted, a Republican, has concluded that since Trump has filed with the Federal Election Commission to pursue the Republican nomination and “voluntarily participated” in the Republican presidential debate in the state of Ohio, he has “chosen a party for this election cycle” and declared himself “as a Republican in the state of Ohio,” said Husted spokesman Joshua Eck.
Mark that down as the first major hurdle Trump would face in trying to mount a 50-state campaign for president as an independent. But it likely would not be the only one.
Trump refused to rule out an independent bid during Thursday’s GOP debate, and he kept the notion alive again during an interview Friday on NBC’s Today show. “I don’t want to do the independent thing, but I do keep it and it is leverage,” he said.
Full Article: A Trump independent run got harder Thursday night.