MassGOP-backed lieutenant governor candidate fails to collect enough signatures to make ballot

"The GOP-endorsed candidate for lieutenant governor did not collect the 10,000 signatures required to make it on the ballot, her campaign said, as it blamed a paid signature gatherer amid forging concerns. Anne Brensley, who won the party's endorsement for lieutenant governor with more than 56 percent of the vote, more than double the next closest candidate, said she collected more than 7,500 "legitimate" signatures through grassroots efforts and paid a Republican party insider to gather 6,500."

"Joe Bronske, the chair of the Weymouth Republican Town Committee, told Brensley's campaign that his company had gathered 6,203 signatures as of April 30 and had received $15,000 from the campaign, according to an email screenshot shared by the campaign. Bronske focused his efforts on Weymouth, Braintree, Quincy, Easton, Hanover, and Rockland, but "the story started collapsing," Brensley's campaign claims."

""Entire batches were rejected. Towns where the campaign had supposedly gathered signatures appeared to have little or no actual activity," Brensley's campaign statement said. "Town Clerks from three towns contacted the Massachusetts Secretary of State's office with forgery concerns." Bronske did not return a request for comment."

"Brensley's campaign is asking the Secretary of the Commonwealth Bill Galvin to extend the deadline two weeks to collect more signatures. Deb O'Malley, a Galvin spokesperson, told The Boston Globe that clerks from three cities and towns had reached out with concerns about potential fraudulent signatures submitted on behalf of some candidates. O'Malley said Galvin cannot extend or alter the deadline for signature gathering because it is set in law, per the Globe."

A GOP-endorsed candidate for lieutenant governor did not collect the 10,000 signatures required for ballot access. The campaign said it gathered more than 7,500 legitimate signatures through grassroots efforts and paid a Republican party insider to gather 6,500 more. The town committee chair said his company gathered 6,203 signatures as of April 30 and received $15,000 from the campaign. The campaign claimed the effort collapsed, with entire batches rejected and towns showing little or no activity. Town clerks from three towns contacted the Secretary of State’s office with forgery concerns. The campaign requested a two-week deadline extension, but the Secretary of the Commonwealth said the deadline cannot be changed because it is set in law.

Read at Boston.com