Colorado’s Republican Senate primary could be a two-man race after the Secretary of State announced Thursday that two more hopefuls failed to turn in enough valid signatures to make it on the ballot.
Those candidates were former Aurora City Councilor Ryan Frazier and Colorado Springs businessman Robert Blaha.
More than a dozen candidates originally threw their hats in the ring, trying to make the ballot either through the state assembly or the petition process.
But at last month’s assembly, only El Paso County commissioner Darryl Glenn won enough support to stay in the race. And of the four candidates trying to petition on, the Secretary of State’s office ruled that only former CSU athletic director Jack Graham collected enough valid signatures to proceed.
Former state Rep. John Keyser has challenged the rejection of some of his petitions in court. The secretary ruled that he fell 86 signatures short of the threshold. Frazier and Blaha have five days to decide whether to challenge their rejection.
In order to petition onto the ballot, a candidate must submit 1,500 valid signatures from each of the state’s seven congressional districts.
Blaha fell short in three districts, missing the First District target by 151 signatures, the Third District by 169, and the Sixth District by 49. Frazier failed to get enough valid signatures in four districts. He was 52 short in the First District, six short in the Second District, 306 in the Third District, and 44 in the Sixth District.
