In a shocking (not really) twist, the Colorado Secretary of State’s office today confirmed that (former?) Republican gubernatorial candidate Doug Robinson failed to secure the necessary valid Republican signatures to appear on the ballot. Robinson missed the ballot by 22 signatures in the Second Congressional District, a liberal bastion. Robinson said he planned to challenge the decision in court, much like U.S. Senate candidates did in 2016. Although, it should be noted that this kind of distraction – of focus, money, and other resources did not pan out for those candidates.
In response to the news, Robinson posted a picture of his dog on Twitter with a joke about the 2016 signature debacles during which one candidate told reporters he had a big dog, proving Robinson is the candidate with the best sense of humor.
Well. If any of you reporters were curious — my dog is huge. #COGov #copolitics pic.twitter.com/1X6SMx3X1s
— Doug Robinson (@DougRobinsonCO) April 20, 2018
If Robinson wasn’t so likeable, this development would be hilarious. Robinson’s campaign staffer maligned other Republican candidates for problems with their signatures – specifically, he went after fellow Republican candidate Walker Stapleton, who trashed his signatures and went through the process garnering 44 percent of the vote. The question now is – did Robinson’s staffer genuinely think Robinson had moral high ground here or was his trash talking meant to try to disqualify Stapleton’s signatures and give his candidate a wider berth to make the ballot (which he obviously needed)? Inquiring minds want to know.
In other news, Colorado Treasurer candidate Brian Watson, who used the same firm, also did not qualify for the ballot. He also turned in 17,000 signatures and came up short in the Second Congressional District by 120 votes. Watson also plans to fight the insufficiency finding in court.
Each statewide candidate must secure 1,500 valid Republican (for GOP candidates) signatures in each Congressional District. Colorado has seven Congressional Districts, so the candidates must submit a total of 10,500 signatures. The Second Congressional District often proves challenging for Republican candidates attempting to gather signatures.