The Libertarian Party of Colorado has scrambled to get a new secretary of state candidate on the November ballot after its first contender abruptly dropped out of the race last week.
When Alex Astley announced that he was ending his campaign, he did so Aug. 26 — one day after the withdrawal deadline that would’ve given the Libertarian Party time to replace him. While party officials moved quickly last weekend to nominate Sean Vadney — the second-place finisher in June’s Libertarian primary — they were technically already past the deadline to get him on the Nov. 3 ballot.
That prompted Vadney to sue Secretary of State Jena Griswold this week over the issue. His lawyer told Denver District Judge Adam Espinosa during a hearing Thursday that the party had done all it could to comply with state law, given the timing of Astley’s departure.
But the timing also drew suspicion from Libertarian Party leaders, who suggested that Astley had intentionally dropped out to boost the campaign of James Wiley, a former Libertarian official who is now running for secretary of state as a Republican. A press release purportedly from Wiley, which was , claimed that Astley was “encouraged” to withdraw after Wiley signed a “liberty pledge.”
“You tell me,” said Nicholas Sarwark, Vadney’s attorney, “that this wasn’t” collusion between the candidates.
Wiley did not return a text message Thursday about the release’s claim. Under the Libertarians’ previous leadership, which included Wiley, to keep Libertarian candidates out of contested races, so long as the Republican candidate was “liberty-leaning.”
But when Wiley’s faction was ousted from leadership roles last year, the party backed away from its deal with the GOP and pledged to again run candidates up and down the ballot.
In an interview Thursday evening, Astley denied that he had dropped out to help Wiley or that he had timed his departure to block the party from replacing him.
He instead cited his own busy schedule, low Libertarian voter participation and poor financial support as the primary reasons for his decision to suspend his campaign. He said the timing — coming one day after the withdrawal deadline — was “incidental,” and he said he’d explained his reasons to the party .
“I made my decision absent of any communication with James Wiley or desire of James Wiley,” he said. But he said he learned of the liberty pledges after he’d decided to drop out and wasn’t opposed to them as part of considering how he could “best further the cause of liberty … after I recognized that I needed to suspend my campaign.”
Astley said he was not involved in creating Wiley’s apparent news release but added that its content was “approximately accurate.” He said he believed it was a draft that was released prematurely. In a follow-up email, he said he believed that Wiley was better equipped to win in November and that he was in negotiations with Wiley for an endorsement.
But Sarwark and Joe Johnson, the Libertarian Party’s campaign director, said they did not believe that Astley’s timing was a coincidence. Johnson said that amid simmering internal conflict between the party’s new and prior leadership, he and others suspected there were attempts to clear Libertarian candidates from races.
“I can’t tell you what he’s thinking. I can’t tell you what’s in his heart,” Johnson said of Astley. “But usually, if it walks like a duck, flies like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s probably not a pigeon.”
Sarwark and Johnson said the party had prepared to take quick steps to replace candidates if any dropped out suddenly.
Astley, an engineer from Holyoke, won the June 30 primary with nearly 62% of the vote. Vadney is an entertainer and music DJ from Highlands Ranch. He served three years on probation after a 2021 incident for which he pleaded guilty to third-degree assault of a police officer and criminal mischief. He told The Denver Post earlier this year that the arrest was connected to a mental health breakdown and alcohol abuse, and he said he no longer drinks alcohol. He did not respond to an email seeking comment for this story.
The legal filing to put Vadney on the ballot was only technically opposed by lawyers for the state. They told Espinosa that they had to follow the statute — which blocked Vadney because of the missed deadline — but said placing him on the ballot wouldn’t be difficult for state election officials.
The attorney general’s office also believed that Vadney and the Libertarian Party had “substantially complied” with election rules, despite Astley’s belated departure from the race.
The judge said he appreciated that there was little dispute between the party and the state, and he indicated he would issue a ruling by Friday morning. State election officials must certify the ballot by Friday.
