{"id":832,"date":"2018-03-30T21:18:36","date_gmt":"2018-03-31T01:18:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gopplaybook.com\/?p=832"},"modified":"2018-03-30T21:18:36","modified_gmt":"2018-03-31T01:18:36","slug":"a-criminal-allegation-a-secretly-recorded-call-the-gop-race-for-governor-takes-dramatic-turn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gopplaybook.com\/?p=832","title":{"rendered":"A criminal allegation. A secretly recorded call. The GOP race for governor takes dramatic turn."},"content":{"rendered":"

The secretary of state\u2019s office said an investigation found no proof of wrongdoing<\/h2>\n
By\u00a0JOHN FRANK<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0jfrank@denverpost.com<\/a>\u00a0| The Denver Post<\/div>\n
PUBLISHED:\u00a0
<\/div>\n
Walker Stapleton, the front-runner in the Republican race for governor, is facing accusations from a GOP rival that he broke state law when\u00a0<\/span>collecting signatures to qualify<\/a>\u00a0for the primary ballot.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n

Doug Robinson, a first-time candidate and nephew of Mitt Romney, is demanding the secretary of state\u2019s office conduct a formal investigation after a secretly recorded phone call raised questions about one person circulating petitions for Stapleton, the current state treasurer.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe spent so much time and money trying to do this the right way it makes me upset that people were doing it the wrong way,\u201d Robinson said in an interview after claiming Stapleton\u2019s petitions were \u201cgathered illegally.\u201d<\/p>\n

The extraordinary move comes as Robinson struggles to gain traction in a crowded field in which Stapleton tops the early polls and fundraising reports. The dispute echos concerns from 2016, when\u00a0forged voter signatures<\/a>\u00a0marred the Republican primary for U.S. Senate \u2014 a move that contributed to the party\u2019s loss in November.<\/p>\n

Stapleton\u2019s campaign and the firm it hired to collect voter signatures, Kennedy Enterprises, deny any wrongdoing. \u201cThe entire Walker Stapleton signature campaign was performed lawfully,\u201d said Dan Kennedy in a statement.<\/p>\n

The state is currently reviewing Stapleton\u2019s petitions to see whether he collected the requisite 1,500 in each of Colorado\u2019s seven congressional districts to earn a place on the ballot. Robinson also submitted signatures to qualify, and his status remains undetermined.<\/p>\n

The firm hired by the Robinson campaign to solicit signatures filed a complaint Feb. 23 with the secretary of state\u2019s office that alleged a petition circulator working on Stapleton\u2019s behalf told them he was not registered to vote in Colorado and did not certify that he collected the signatures \u2014 factors that could render them invalid and may have violated state law.<\/p>\n

The firm\u2019s founder, Dustin Olson, later secretly record a phone call with the same person, identified as Daniel Alejandro Velasquez, under the pretense that he may hire him to do work. The call, first reported by\u00a0Denver7<\/a>, takes place as Velasquez is heard soliciting voters to collect signatures.<\/p>\n

Stapleton\u2019s campaign and Kennedy Enterprises said they have no record of Velasquez circulating petitions.<\/p>\n

The secretary of state\u2019s office tried to reach him but was unsuccessful. Ben Schler, the office\u2019s operations and legal manager who conducted the initial inquiry, said the audio concerns him, but he does not have enough evidence to determine if Velasquez \u2014 or anyone else \u2014 violated the law.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo hear a conversation like that \u2014 that was fairly long and detailed \u2014 is definitely troubling,\u201d he said in an interview. \u201cI just think from an evidentiary perspective there\u2019s a difference between something that is troubling and something that we can take action on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Robinson\u2019s complaint about another Stapleton petition collector was dismissed because the voter registration was verified.<\/p>\n

Stapleton spokesman Michael Fortney, whose firm also consults for Secretary of State Wayne Williams\u2019 re-election campaign, said in a statement that he takes the claim seriously but he suggested the motivation for the complaint was political.<\/p>\n

The secretary of state\u2019s office said Robinson could take the matter to the local district attorney. His campaign said it wants the secretary of state\u2019s investigation to continue.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe think there is something there,\u201d Robinson said. \u201cAnd we think they should look into it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The secretary of state\u2019s office said an investigation found no proof of wrongdoing By\u00a0JOHN FRANK\u00a0|\u00a0jfrank@denverpost.com\u00a0| The Denver Post PUBLISHED:\u00a0March 30, 2018 at 6:00 am\u00a0| UPDATED:\u00a0March…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":833,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-832","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-state-politics"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gopplaybook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/2018-03-30_21-17-35.jpg?fit=309%2C380&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8VBh7-dq","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1329,"url":"https:\/\/www.gopplaybook.com\/?p=1329","url_meta":{"origin":832,"position":0},"title":"Ron DeSantis\u2019s \u201cSlavery Was a Good Thing\u201d Curriculum Weirdly Unpopular Among GOP Hopefuls","author":"Donnie","date":"July 31, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cAnybody that is implying that there was an upside to slavery is insane.\u201d By Bess Levin July 31, 2023 A lot of crazy s--t has come out of Florida over the last number of years\u2014see: every headline that starts with \u201cFlorida Man\u2026\u201d\u2014but almost none of it compares to what the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "National News"","block_context":{"text":"National News","link":"https:\/\/www.gopplaybook.com\/?cat=21"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gopplaybook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/vf723-desantis-president-1.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gopplaybook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/vf723-desantis-president-1.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gopplaybook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/vf723-desantis-president-1.webp?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gopplaybook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/vf723-desantis-president-1.webp?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gopplaybook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/vf723-desantis-president-1.webp?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":934,"url":"https:\/\/www.gopplaybook.com\/?p=934","url_meta":{"origin":832,"position":1},"title":"Antigay Springfield pastor fighting Charlie Baker \u2014 and gay Ugandans in federal court","author":"Donnie","date":"May 1, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"By\u00a0Joshua Miller\u00a0GLOBE STAFF\u00a0\u00a0MAY 01, 2018 Controversial pastor Scott Lively, whom Republicans this weekend catapulted into contention for the GOP nomination for governor, is embroiled in an active federal lawsuit in which he was accused of conspiracy to deprive gay people in the East African nation of Uganda of their fundamental\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "National Politics"","block_context":{"text":"National Politics","link":"https:\/\/www.gopplaybook.com\/?cat=11"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":581,"url":"https:\/\/www.gopplaybook.com\/?p=581","url_meta":{"origin":832,"position":2},"title":"Voter suppression fanatic Kris Kobach humiliated by GOP judge in court","author":"Donnie","date":"March 9, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"(Thad Allton\/Topeka Capital-Journal via AP) By\u00a0Eric Boehlert March 9, 2018 Trying to score political points by chasing voter fraud in court, Kris Kobach became a laughing stock this week instead. 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