Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colo., is reportedly going to pursue legal action to keep his name on the June 26 primary ballot after the state's Supreme Court released a bombshell ruling hundreds of signatures on his petitions were collected by people who did not live in his district.
The decision sent the campaign scrambling, The Washington Post reported Monday night.
"We recognize the gravity of this conclusion, but Colorado law does not permit us to conclude otherwise," wrote Judge Brian Whitney in a decision released Monday afternoon, the Post reported.
Lamborn's campaign pledged immediately to fight the decision.
"We are disappointed by the outcome and believe it was wrongly decided," Lamborn spokesman Dan Bayens told the Post. "We are immediately bringing an action in federal court to overturn the part of Colorado law that deprives voters who have petitioned to have Congressman Lamborn on the ballot of their constitutional rights."
First elected in 2006, Lamborn has faced primary challengers in almost every campaign, holding off more conservative Republicans who have argued he has been an ineffective representative for central Colorado.
His first campaign for the 5th Congressional District, based in Colorado Springs — and reliably red — was backed by the conservative Club for Growth.
This year, however, he faced four Republican challengers, including Darryl Glenn, the party's unsuccessful 2016 nominee for U.S. Senate, and state Sen. Owen Hill, the Post reported.
Lamborn initially gathered more signatures than the 1,000 legally required, but a group of Republican activists sued, pointing out at least one of Lamborn's petition gatherers had paid California taxes in 2017 and did not fully reside in Colorado, the Post reported.
If Lamborn loses his petition count fight, state law still lets him compete in the primary as a write-in candidate.
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