Colorado congressman sues to get onto GOP primary ballot

A Colorado congressman hoping for a seventh term is suing to get back onto the Republican primary ballot.

The Colorado Supreme Court ordered U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn’s name removed from the ballot Friday. It found that his campaign used people who do not live in Colorado to gather signatures from voters to get his name in the primary.

Lamborn and his campaign filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday. They contend that ruling violates the First Amendment rights of the congressman and his constituents. The lawsuit argues that the Colorado law requiring signature gatherers to live in the state violates the U.S. Constitution.

Lamborn asked for an injunction to require the congressman’s name be placed on the June primary ballots.

The group that filed the original lawsuit against Lamborn’s campaign responded Wednesday.

“Until 2:45 PM this past Monday Doug Lamborn had said lawsuits shouldn’t determine ballot access. Yet, now that it has been proven that his campaign broke the rules and violated Colorado law he’s changing his mind on the role of lawsuits,” spokesperson Kyle Fisk said.