{"id":64886,"date":"2020-05-06T16:56:35","date_gmt":"2020-05-06T16:56:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/colorado-supreme-court-bounces-two-u-s-senate-candidates-from-primary-ballot\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T10:19:18","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T10:19:18","slug":"colorado-supreme-court-bounces-two-u-s-senate-candidates-from-primary-ballot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/colorado-supreme-court-bounces-two-u-s-senate-candidates-from-primary-ballot\/","title":{"rendered":"Colorado Supreme Court bounces two U.S. Senate candidates from primary ballot"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"The
The Colorado Supreme Court ruled this week Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate Lorena Garcia should not be allowed to participate in the primary election because she did not collect enough signatures to qualify for the ballot.<\/span>Eric Lubbers\/The Colorado Sun<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The Colorado Supreme Court on Tuesday removed another Democratic U.S. Senate candidate from the June primary ballot after reversing a lower court\u2019s order.<\/p>\n

Lorena Garcia, a community organizer, should not be allowed to participate in the election, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled.<\/p>\n

Garcia didn\u2019t collect enough signatures \u2013 1,500 from each of Colorado\u2019s seven congressional districts \u2013 to make the primary ballot.<\/p>\n

She argued before Denver District Judge Christopher Baumann that the coronavirus crisis created an impossible burden for signature collection. He agreed and put her on the ballot after determining that because she collected half the necessary signatures she showed enough support to warrant being part of the primary.<\/p>\n

But the Colorado Supreme Court has rejected Baumann\u2019s reasoning.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile we recognize that the circumstances that made signature collection more difficult this year are unprecedented, we do not have the authority to rewrite the Election Code in response to the COVID-19 virus,\u201d the court wrote in a decision handed down Monday in the ballot-access case of another Democratic U.S. Senate candidate. \u201c\u2026 The Election Code\u2019s minimum signature mandate requires strict compliance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Garcia is vowing to challenge the Colorado Supreme Court\u2019s ruling in federal court, saying the decision \u201cviolated the people of Colorado\u2019s right to support their candidate.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is our duty to fight this violation of our democratic process,\u201d she said in a written statement.<\/p>\n

The June primary ballot was scheduled to be set Thursday.<\/p>\n

The decision in Garcia\u2019s case comes a day after the Colorado Supreme Court removed nonprofit leader Michelle Ferrigno Warren from the primary ballot.<\/p>\n

Ferrigno Warren also failed to collect enough signatures to participate in the election. Like in Garcia\u2019s case, Ferrigno Warren argued before Baumann that because of coronavirus she should be placed on the ballot, and the judge agreed because she had collected more than half of the necessary signatures.<\/p>\n

Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, a Democrat, challenged Baumann\u2019s rulings in Garcia and Ferrigno Warren\u2019s cases leading the reversals.<\/p>\n

Unless a federal court agrees to take up Garcia\u2019s case and overrule the Colorado Supreme Court, the June primary will be between former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper and former Colorado House Speaker Andrew Romanoff.<\/p>\n

The winner of the June primary will face Republican U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner in November. Gardner, who is in his first term, is considered one of the most vulnerable congressional Republicans up for re-election this year.<\/p>\n

The Colorado Sun is a reader-supported, journalist-owned news outlet exploring issues of statewide interest. Sign up for a newsletter and read more at coloradosun.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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