Former state Rep. Jon Keyser, R-Morrison, on Thursday afternoon became the second Republican U.S. Senate candidate to submit petitions to the secretary of state’s office in hopes of winning a spot on the June primary ballot.

“Our campaign is dedicated to uniting a new generation of conservative activists with those who have been fighting on behalf of conservative causes for decades, and that’s exactly what we’ve done through the petition process,” said Keyser in a statement.

Keyser is one of 13 Republican candidates vying for the chance to run against incumbent Michael Bennet, the only Senate Democrat up for reelection in a swing state this fall.

Fort Collins businessman Jack Graham, a former athletic director for Colorado State University, submitted his petitions on Monday, a week ahead of the April 4 deadline.

Two other GOP candidates — Colorado Springs businessman Robert Blaha and former Aurora Councilman Ryan Frazier — are seeking the primary ballot by petition.

In order to make the June 28 primary ballot, GOP candidates for statewide office have to gather at least 1,500 valid signatures from Republicans in each of the state’s seven congressional districts, or 10,500 signatures total.

Another nine announced GOP candidates are pursing the ballot at the April 9 Republican state assembly in Colorado Springs, where it’ll take the votes of more than 30 percent of delegates to advance to the primary. They include: state Sen. Tim Neville, R-Littleton, El Paso County Commissioners Darryl Glenn and Peg Littleton, Lakewood businessman Jerry Natividad, Jefferson County Commissioner Don Rosier, Air Force veteran Charlie Ehler, and activists Jerry Eller, Tom Janich and Michael Kinlaw.

A spokeswoman for the Blaha campaign declined to comment on the Keyser petitions, and the Frazier campaign didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

It could be weeks before state election officials rule whether Keyser or Graham’s petition signatures are sufficient, but turning petitions in ahead of other candidates for the same office can make a big difference whether a candidate makes the ballot, officials point out.

A voter’s signature can only count for one candidate for the same office. If a voter has signed more than one petition for a particular office, the secretary of state’s office determines which candidate gets to count that voter’s signature based on who turned in petitions first. Effectively, in the case of the GOP Senate candidates, any Republican who has signed Graham’s petition can’t be counted on a Keyser petition, and all the Republicans who have signed Graham and Keyser’s petitions won’t be able to be counted for Blaha or Frazier’s. To make it more vexing, candidates who turn in their petitions later don’t know which of their signatures won’t count because they’ve already been used by a candidate whose petitions made it to the office earlier.

— ernest@coloradostatesman.com