The Colorado Secretary of State’s (SOS) office announced this afternoon that Republican Walker Stapleton submitted just enough valid signatures to get his name on the June Primary ballot in the race for Governor.
Here’s the district-by-district breakdown of Stapleton’s petition signatures, which shows a validity rate of about 59%. In order to qualify for the Primary ballot, candidates for Governor need 1,500 valid signatures from each of Colorado’s seven Congressional districts (for a total of 10,500). The SOS office counted 11,325 valid signatures for Stapleton, and it was a close call in two congressional districts: CD1 (1,589) and CD7 (1,553).
We wrote last month that Stapleton’s campaign was sweating it out on the signature front, and these numbers prove that out. Stapleton’s campaign submitted just 19,214 total signatures on February 23 (after telling the media that they had collected 21,000) — two days after Democrat Michael Johnston became the first statewide candidate to turn in petitions. Johnston found out that he had qualified for the ballot on March 16, but it took three more weeks for Stapleton’s signatures to be approved.
As we explained a few weeks ago, Stapleton’s close call with petition signatures despite a massive advantage in financial resources does not speak well for his campaign operation.
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To paraphrase Jon Keyser: What matters is Walker is on the ballot.
Well, of course he did!
And you’re wrong, this foregone conclusion speaks volumes about Walker Roberts’s massive advantage in financial resources . . .
He's made the ballot … unless and until someone asks questions in a court about those carrying the petitions. Corey Hutchins wrote in the Colorado Independent about a challenge to Rep. Lamborn's signatures. He then noted:
Apparently, 5 voters (and their lawyer, Michael Francisco) sued, and the suit says
Francisco said he hopes Lamborn’s team can produce the seven circulators as witnesses so he can cross-examine them.
Kennedy Enterprises was also the same petition gathering outfit that gathered petition signatures for the recall of Senators Angela Giron and John Morse in 2013. There were some complaints about sketchy collectors then.
A Facebook search also turned up that Kennedy Enterprises collected signatures in Wisconsin, against the recall of Scott Walker. They are apparently a go-to signature firm for extreme right wingers.
Now I'm curious about if there is a connection to Katie Kennedy, who is the registered agent for hundreds of conservative pop-up dark money groups.
Maybe the surnames are just a coinkidink – or maybe they're keeping the right wing money laundering and signature gathering all in the family?? I'll dig a little deeper.
Got to love the website [ http://www.kennedyenterprises.us/?page_id=55 ]. It promises [emphasis is mine – highlighting aspects I would criticize if I saw them coming from a university student on a class assignment.]
Kennedy Enterprises LLC shall:
Parallel structure is another one of my points of emphasis … and this list triggered several shudders.
You missed these gems, on the "successes" page for Kennedy Enterprises:
(italics mine)
· Petition Rights – #38
· School District Expendentures – #39 (for those toothless education policies)
· Term Limits for Judges – #40
· Minimum Wage – #43
· Marriage Amendment – #42
· Ethics in Government (Lobbiest Gifts) – #41 (in case you need a gift that lobs the best)
I wonder if they are as careful about their signatures as they are about their website proofreading.