Emergency application
Ballot access rules
Lana Leguia v. New Jersey Republican State Committee
What did the Court do?
The Court denied the request on September 18, 2026: the lower court's ruling stays in effect while the appeal continues.
Emergency rulings are temporary and do not decide the underlying case.
What's being asked
Lana Leguia, a Libertarian candidate for Congress in New Jersey’s Seventh District, asks the Court to pause a New Jersey Supreme Court order. That order left in place a lower-court pause of the New Jersey secretary of state's election decision. The underlying dispute began with the New Jersey Republican State Committee's challenge to that decision. Leguia says ballot-access rules changed after the signature deadline, harming her right to equal treatment under the Constitution.
What the Court did
The Court refused Leguia’s emergency request: Justice Alito denied (turned down) her request for a temporary pause. The order does not decide who wins the underlying dispute, and the Court did not publish how the justices voted.
What it means
The New Jersey Superior Court's pause of the secretary's decision remains in place under the New Jersey Supreme Court's order. This emergency ruling addresses only temporary relief; it does not decide who ultimately wins the dispute. The docket lists no related Supreme Court case to decide the main question and no argument date.
Sources
Facts on this page come from the Supreme Court docket, orders, and opinions for No. 26A358. The answers restate that record in plain words; explainer copy is written from the record and the filings only.