Judge rules against efforts to disqualify Arizona GOP Reps. Biggs, Gosar over 'insurrection' claim

An Arizona judge has ruled against efforts to keep two Republican congressmen and a state representative off the November ballot on the argument they committed "insurrection" in connection to the Jan. 6, 2020, Capitol riot. 

Superior Court Judge Christopher Coury said in his ruling Friday that because GOP Reps. Paul Gosar and Andy Biggs and state Republican Rep. Mark Finchem are elected officials removing them from the ballot over the 14th Amendment's Disqualification Clause requires congressional action – not a suit brought by private citizens in a state court, according to the Epoch Times.

"The express language of the United States Constitution controls this issue," Coury said. 

The ruling could foreshadow the outcome of a similar case against GOP Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene, who on Friday testified in a Georgia court on the issue.

Last month, a federal judge in North Carolina blocked a similar effort to disqualify GOP Rep. Madison Cawthorn.

The 11 plaintiffs in the Arizona case are state residents represented by attorneys with the Texas-based Free Speech for People advocacy group, which also is involved in the Cawthorn and Greene cases.

A spokesman for the group said it plans to to file an appeal in the Georgia case to the state Supreme Court.