Decision close regarding on Ryan Frazier’s place in Colorado Senate race
DENVER – Ryan Frazier must wait a few more days to find out whether votes cast for him in the Republican Senate primary will count.
The Colorado Supreme Court ruling on Tuesday put him closer to being officially on the ballot, but Frazier remains about 30 signatures shy of qualifying as a candidate in the race.
But there’s hope for the former Aurora city councilman who now runs a charter school.
The court remanded back to Denver District Court the question of whether 51 signatures are valid. Apparently, Frazier’s attorney’s presented evidence that the 51 signatures were from valid registered Republican voters who had not previously signed a petition for another candidate, but the lower court failed to rule on whether those should have been counted by the Secretary of State’s Office.
The Supreme Court ruling gives the lower court until Friday to decide on the remaining signatures.
It takes 10,500 signatures to get on the ballot for U.S. Senate and 1,500 of those must come from each of Colorado’s seven congressional districts. Frazier fell short in three districts but sued to challenge a number of signatures that were thrown out.
He was not alone in the fight to get on the ballot.
Two other candidates’ sued to be included in the June 28 primary, although those cases were resolved in the lower court. Former state Rep. Jon Keyser got on the ballot and Colorado Springs businessman Robert Blaha were put on the ballot after Judge Elizabeth Starrs ruled their petitions were valid.
Also on the ballot is Jack Graham, who was the first to turn in signatures and easily met the requirement. Graham is the former athletic director at Colorado State University and a Fort Collins businessman.
El Paso County Commissioner Darryl Glenn was the only candidate to get on the ballot at the Colorado GOP assembly. He won 70 percent of the vote and knocked off nine other hopefuls in a single day.
U.S. Congressional candidate, Republican Ryan Frazier discusses the issues during a debate at KBDI television in Denver on Thursday Oct. 14, 2010. (AP Photo&fras1; Matt McClain)