Joe Biden, Donald Trump, 5 other Republicans approved for Wisconsin primary ballot

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — President Joe Biden, former President Donald Trump and five other Republican candidates were chosen Tuesday to be on Wisconsin’s April 2 presidential primary ballot. The slate of candidates was selected by the state’s bipartisan Presidential Preference Selection Committee.

The names next go to the Wisconsin Elections Commission, which will approve them for the ballot.

Republicans chosen for the ballot, in addition to Trump, are Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis; Trump’s former United Nations ambassador, Nikki Haley; former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie; biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy; and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson.

The presidential selection committee, comprised of leaders from both parties, approved the slate of candidates without debate in a meeting that lasted about five minutes.

There have been attempts in some states to bar Trump from the ballot because of his involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

Trump on Tuesday appealed a ruling from Maine and was expected to appeal another ruling from Colorado that ban him from the states’ ballots, setting up a high-stakes showdown over a 155-year-old addition to the Constitution that bars from office those who “engaged in insurrection.”

Last week in Wisconsin, Minocqua Brewing Co. owner Kirk Bangstad filed a complaint with the Wisconsin Elections Commission arguing that Trump should be disqualified on those grounds. But the commission dismissed the complaint because it was filed directly against members of the bipartisan agency. Bangstad has said he plans to file a lawsuit in circuit court.