Tom Tancredo’s decision to switch to a third party to run for governor against Republican Dan Maes and Democrat John Hickenlooper is now more than the subject of critical discussion–a lawsuit to prevent his presence on the ballot has just been filed:
According to the ACP’s bylaws and state law, only the state convention has the ability to override a party rule that all nominees for office must be registered with that party by the first business day of January in the year they would be on the ballot.
The party’s vacancy committee, made up of five members, cannot validate a candidate on its own, the suit alleges.
“Tancredo and Miller’s last-minute nominations are the result of, in the Tancredo campaign’s own words, ‘inter-party squabling’ [sic],” the lawsuit states. “Tancredo’s ACP nomination is nothing more or less than a failed gambit to force the duly nominated Republican candidate for Governor, Dan Maes, to withdraw his candidacy.
According to both Fox 31 and Complete Colorado, both of the named individuals in the lawsuit have contributed to the GOP candidate Maes. Complete Colorado has a screencap of Joseph Harrington’s two contributions of $525, in March and April 2010.
Maes denies involvement in the lawsuit.
In July, Colorado GOP Chairman Dick Wadhams said the Republican Party was not considering any legal action to prevent a Tancredo gubernatorial bid on the American Constitution Party ticket.
Wadhams told BATTLE ‘10 that nothing had changed since July. “The Colorado Republican Party has nothing to do with the lawsuit. I personally believe that the American Constitution Party legally and legitimately nominated Tom Tancredo for governor,” he said.
Chelsey Penoyer, spokeswoman for the Colorado Republican Committee, concurred. She told BATTLE ‘10 the state party had no involvement and no official response: “We are in no way a part of the lawsuit and therefore have no comment.”