Republican Marc Holtzman’s campaign for governor lives for at least one more day.
Less than an hour before the secretary of state’s office was going to yank his name off the Aug. 8 primary ballot, Holtzman on Wednesday afternoon was granted a temporary reprieve from the Colorado Supreme Court.
Holtzman has another 24 hours to remain on the ballot while the court considers his appeal.
“We’re hopeful and optimistic, but we’re trying not to read too much into it,” said Jesse Mallory, spokesman for Holtzman, who was campaigning in Colorado Springs.
While it’s impossible to know what the seven- member court will do today, the fact that it has ordered a 24-hour stay signals that the justices have decided to wade into the case – even if just a little bit.
“They wouldn’t have issued a stay if they were not considering the issue,” said David Fine, who practices election law at Kelly Haglund Garnsey & Kahn LLC in Denver. “It doesn’t tell us anything about how they will rule, but they wouldn’t do this if they weren’t looking at the case.”
Holtzman appealed Tuesday to the Supreme Court, a day after a Denver district judge ordered his name removed from the primary ballot in 48 hours unless the Supreme Court decided to hear his appeal.
Holtzman’s legal team had informed Judge Robert Hyatt on Monday that it would forgo presenting evidence showing Holtzman had enough valid signatures to be an official candidate.
Instead, Holtzman appealed Hyatt’s decision last week that state law requires 1,500 signatures from each of the state’s seven congressional districts.
Secretary of State Gigi Dennis found three weeks ago that Holtzman was short signatures in the 1st and 7th congressional districts.
A flurry of motions immediately followed Holtzman’s appeal.
Bob Beauprez, the only official GOP gubernatorial candidate, and a trio of registered Republican voters argued to the Supreme Court that Holtzman has failed to prove he has enough signatures to make the ballot.
The 48 hours ran out Wednesday afternoon, and the secretary of state’s office was ready to notify the state’s 64 counties to reprogram their electronic-voting machines and remove Holtzman’s name from their ballots, according to Deputy Secretary of State Bill Hobbs.
If he is removed from the ballot, the counties where ballots have already been printed will be instructed not to count his votes.
But the Supreme Court ordered a 24-hour stay before the counties were notified.
Beauprez or Holtzman will face former Denver District Attorney Bill Ritter, the only Democratic gubernatorial candidate, in November.
Staff writer Karen Crummy can be reached at 303-820-1594 or kcrummy@denverpost.com.
