Secretary Williams: Three legislative candidates make ballot

DENVER, March 23, 2018 -- Secretary of State Wayne Williams announced today that three more candidates have successfully petitioned onto the June 26 primary ballot, although one hopeful had to exercise her option to "cure" signatures in order to make it.

The candidates are Julie Gonzales, a Denver Democrat running for Senate District 34; Ed Britt, a Denver Democrat running for House District 4; and Rod Bockenfeld of Watkins, a Republican running for House District 56.

Colorado law now allows petitioners a chance to "cure" non-matching signatures and other technical problems, such as the wrong date on a circulator affidavit. That gives candidates the ability to fix issues without having to go to court. Previously judges had much more leeway to accept signatures that the Secretary of State's office had to reject by law, leading to legal challenges.

With the exception of Gonzales, so far this election season candidates who have been given the option of curing signature mismatches with their petitions have declined because they already had the required number of signatures. Gonzales would have been short had she not cured.

Gonzales is running for the seat now held by Sen. Lucia Guzman, D-Denver, who is term limited. Here is Gonzales' signature breakdown:

• Required: 1,000
• Turned in: 1,279
• Rejected: 276
• Accepted: 1,003

Britt is running for the seat now held by Rep. Dan Pabon, D-Denver, who is term limited. Here are Britt's numbers:

• Required: 1,000
• Turned in: 1,584
• Rejected: 381
• Accepted: 1,203

Bockenfeld is challenging Rep. Phil Covarrubias of Brighton in the Republican primary. Here are Bockenfeld's numbers:

• Required: 1,000
• Turned in: 1,284
• Rejected: 156
• Accepted: 1,128

Candidates who plan to petition onto the primary ballot were allowed to begin collecting signatures on Jan. 16. The deadline to turn them in was Tuesday -- in all, 45 candidates, including six running for governor, submitted petitions. Our office releases results after the petitions are reviewed, and notes when candidates have been declared sufficient.

Gonzales Statement of Sufficiency (PDF)

Britt Statement of Sufficiency (PDF)

Bockenfeld Statement of Sufficiency (PDF)