Colorado's Blaha, Frazier Fail To Make GOP U.S. Senate Primary
DENVER (AP) — Colorado businessman Robert Blaha, who invested $1 million of his own money for the chance to challenge Democratic U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, and former Aurora city councilman Ryan Frazier failed to gather enough voter signatures to make the Republican primary ballot, the state's top elections official said Thursday.
For the moment, two candidates out of an original 13 are in the June 28 primary: Fort Collins businessman Jack Graham and El Paso County Commissioner Darryl Glenn. Former state Rep. Jon Keyser, once seen as the GOP elite's preferred candidate, has appealed a finding that he, too, didn't get enough signatures.
Both Blaha and Frazier have five days to appeal the decision by Secretary of State Wayne Williams. A message left with the Blaha campaign was not immediately returned. Frazier's campaign suggested it would appeal the ruling.
"We are fully committed to letting the process work itself out," campaign spokesman Joel DiGrado said. "Our position is that we presented more than enough valid petitions and are fully prepared to win that argument in court."
Colorado's GOP race was thrown wide open when three-term Rep. Scott Tipton and Colorado theater shooting prosecutor George Brauchler declined to enter. The party failed to muster another top draw like then-Rep. Cory Gardner, who jumped relatively late into the 2014 campaign and went on to defeat Democratic Sen. Mark Udall.
A Denver judge will rule by Friday whether Keyser will make the primary.
The eventual winner faces a tough race with Bennet, who's unopposed in his party and had more than $7.6 million in cash as of March 31. The GOP rivals will spend funds against each other just for the chance to face Bennet, who is seeking a second full term.
Blaha ran as an outsider to what he called "the permanent political class" in Washington. The founder of Human Capital Associates, a business consultancy, he loaned his campaign $1 million. Blaha unsuccessfully challenged Republican U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn of Colorado Springs in 2012.
In 2010, Frazier lost a bid to unseat Democratic Rep. Ed Perlmutter.
Petitioners must obtain at least 1,500 voter signatures in each of Colorado's seven congressional districts. Graham was the first to submit signatures in a race in which voters must be registered Republicans and cannot sign for two candidates.
Williams found that about 40 percent of signatures obtained by Blaha and Frazier were invalid. The candidates also failed to reach the 1,500 mark in three districts.
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