It’s coming down to the wire for Marc Holtzman’s campaign for governor.
A Denver District Court judge ordered Monday that Holtzman’s name be removed from the primary ballot in 48 hours unless the Colorado Supreme Court decides to hear his appeal.
“There is no evidence or basis in law to set aside or overturn the secretary of state,” ruled Judge Robert Hyatt, referring to Gigi Dennis’ decision more than two weeks ago that Holtzman did not have enough valid signatures to make the Aug. 8 Republican primary ballot.
Because Holtzman never made a presentation to support the validity of the signatures, the judge found that he had “absolutely no reasonable probability of success” of showing he had enough valid signatures. Therefore, Hyatt ruled, Holtzman would suffer no “irreparable harm” by not being on the ballot.
Hyatt ordered that Holtzman’s name be removed from the ballot pending a 48-hour stay. Denver District Judge Michael Mullins had ruled earlier that Holtzman’s name should be placed on the ballot until there was a final determination on his candidacy.
Monday’s ruling came after Holtzman’s lawyers switched gears, telling Hyatt they would forgo presenting evidence showing that Holtzman had enough valid signatures to be an official candidate. Instead, they will appeal Hyatt’s decision last week that state law requires 1,500 signatures from each of the state’s seven congressional districts.
Holtzman’s lawyers contend that because a voter can show up at any precinct in the state and fill out a provisional ballot, Holtzman needed only to collect a total of 10,500 signatures from Republicans registered anywhere in the state.
The appeal is expected to be filed today. The Supreme Court does not have a deadline by which it must decide whether to hear Holtzman’s case. It could order that Holtzman’s name remain on the ballot until it makes a decision.
Appearing outside Denver city hall, Holtzman said he was confident he had collected enough signatures but said a court evidentiary hearing was expected to take weeks of time that he did not have. Early voting begins next month.
Holtzman also said the Supreme Court was the end of the line for his campaign, and if he loses, he will back Bob Beauprez as the GOP nominee.
“We will accept and abide by the decision of the Supreme Court,” Holtzman said. “I will support the Republican nominee because the alternative is unthinkable for Colorado’s future,” he said, referring to Democratic candidate Bill Ritter.
In the meantime, Holtzman said he is on the road campaigning and is spending “six figures a week” on campaign ads.
Beauprez’s campaign manager John Marshall said the campaign was “very pleased to see the court uphold the law.”
“We hope that this comes to a close very quickly and we can get to the business of the general election with Marc’s support,” he said.
Some of the state’s 64 counties have already printed their ballots and will not be able to edit out Holtzman’s name if he doesn’t win his legal argument, according to the secretary of state’s office. In that case, votes cast in his favor won’t be counted.
Election lawyer Chantell Taylor said it appeared Holtzman’s attorneys were banking on the Supreme Court being reluctant to keep Holtzman off the ballot.
“Higher courts take these issues very seriously in highly contested and high-profile races,” said Taylor, an associate at the Denver law office of Perkins Coie LLP. “I think (Holtzman) may be hoping that the Supreme Court would try and find a way – a lawful way, even if its technical – to keep him on the ballot.”
The surprise move from Holtzman’s legal team came after his campaign spent days trying to validate rejected signatures with the secretary of state’s office. Two weeks ago, Dennis found that Holtzman was short about 333 signatures in the 1st Congressional District and 410 signatures short in the 7th District.
Holtzman attorneys Mark Grueskin and John Head evaluated the amount of time and money it would cost to continue with a tedious court process that could potentially go through the eve of the primary, Grueskin said. So they called Holtzman on Sunday night to discuss his options.
“We had a heart-to-heart with him,” Grueskin said. “The first thing he said was, ‘What do you think is in the best interests of the Republican Party?”‘
Grueskin, a Democrat, left that question for Head, a Republican. “I went to get a cup of coffee,” Grueskin said. “I wouldn’t presume to know the answer.”
A decision by the Supreme Court would mark the end of a politically tumultuous four weeks. On May 20, Holtzman did not snag enough votes at the GOP state assembly to make the ballot. He then submitted 21,000 signatures to get on the ballot, but Dennis found he didn’t have enough valid signatures in the two districts. Holtzman claimed Dennis did not have jurisdiction over his appeal, and he successfully filed his case in Denver District Court. His lawyers then argued that Holtzman needed only a total of 10,500 signatures instead of 1,500 from each district.
On Friday, Hyatt ruled against him.
Staff writer Karen Crummy can be reached at 303-820-1594 or kcrummy@denverpost.com.
