Michigan’s highest court on Wednesday is allowing Donald Trump to remain on the Republican primary ballot for now, but did not rule if the former president is eligible to run in the general election next November.

The state’s top justices did not consider an appeal from voters who want to bar Trump from the 2024 presidential ballot because of his efforts to thwart the 2020 election and his role in the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, by a mob of his supporters. The plaintiffs cited a 14th Amendment clause that prevents people from holding federal office if they have “engaged in insurrection or rebellion.” 

Just last week, the Colorado Supreme Court became the first court in the country to declare Trump ineligible to run, all but ensuring the controversial decision gets a fast pass to the US Supreme Court and giving US constitutional law aficionados fodder for the ages.

“Significantly, Colorado’s election laws differ from Michigan’s laws in a material way that is directly relevant to why the appellants, in this case, are not entitled to the relief they seek concerning the presidential primary election in Michigan,” Justice Elizabeth Welch wrote in the court’s ruling.

Trumpeting his victory in Michigan, the former president took to his media platform, Truth Social, claiming it was a “Desperate Democrat attempt to take the leading Candidate” off the ballot in the key swing state.

The post-Christmas decision not only means that Trump remains on the ballot but, in the spirit of unintended consequences, will probably result in a sizable boost to his campaign war chest. Case in point: the former president raised $4.18 million the day after the Georgia booking and mugshot on August 24, resulting in the most lucrative 24-hour period to date, according to Federal Election Commission reports.

Ron Fein, the legal director of Free Speech For People, a group that was part of the effort to remove Trump from the ballot in Michigan and Minnesota, took a pragmatic approach to the ruling, as the New York Times reported.

“The Michigan Supreme Court did not rule out that the question of Donald Trump’s disqualification for engaging in insurrection against the US Constitution may be resolved at a later stage,” Fein said in a statement.

Michigan’s presidential primary will be held on February 27.

Challenges to Trump’s eligibility have been filed in more than 30 states, and while many of those have been dismissed, the issue is still pending in Texas, Nevada, and Wisconsin.