Amid pressure from his fellow Democratic lawmakers to resign his seat following complaints of sexual misconduct, a defiant state Rep. Steve Lebsock said Tuesday he plans to petition his way on the primary ballot for Colorado’s state treasurer.

The other three Democrats running for the office held by term-limited State Treasurer Walker Stapleton – a Republican candidate for governor – say they’re going through the caucus and assembly process for a spot in the June 26 primary.

There are two routes to the primary for major party candidates: Those with approved petitions can start gathering signatures Tuesday and have until March 20 to turn them in to election officials. For statewide candidates, it’ll take 10,500 valid signatures from fellow party members – 1,500 from each of Colorado’s seven congressional districts – to qualify for the primary. Those who go through the caucus and assembly process have to win the support of 30 percent of assembly delegates, a process that begins March 6 at precinct caucuses and culminates for statewide candidates at the major parties’ state assemblies on April 14.

“I’ve always gone through the caucus process and plan to do so once again,” said state Rep. Dave Young, D-Greeley. Charles Sheibe, the Treasury Department’s chief financial officer under Stapleton and his Democratic predecessor, and political newcomer Bernard Douthit have also said they’ll be pursuing the nomination through caucuses.

As the General Assembly kicked off its 120-day regular session last week, Lebsock said he won’t caucus with House Democrats and thanked some Republicans legislators for their hospitable greetings on opening day of the Legislature. At the same time, state Rep. Matt Gray, D-Broomfield, said he would postpone introducing a resolution to expel Lebsock from the House until investigators have compiled a report on sexual misconduct complaints filed by a fellow lawmaker and a former lobbyist.

The Thornton Democrat been under fire since November, when state Rep. Faith Winter, a Westminster Democrat, and former animal-rights lobbyist Holly Tarry both charged Lebsock with making unwanted sexual advances toward them on separate occasions. Lebsock has been firing back in the months since, last week releasing detailed responses to the complaints along with results of polygraph tests he took that he says disprove the allegations.

Also last week, Lebsock posted a 13-minute video online, telling his side of the story and reiterating his claim that allegations against him – including accusations leveled by three other women who have worked at the Capitol, as well as a half dozen unnamed accusers who have been cited in press accounts – are politically motivated.

Lebsock referenced the video in a written statement to Colorado Politics about his plans to mount a petition drive for state treasurer.

“This fourth generation Coloradan and Marine looks forward to the people of Colorado watching my video, and I look forward to talking one-on-one with thousands of folks earning support for our campaign,” he said. “It has been an honor fighting for the people of Colorado my entire adult life, from my time in the United States Marine Corps to my years at the Capitol fighting against the insiders and corruption in our political system.”

He added that he plans to start collecting signatures with volunteers in January and might hire some people to help with the effort in February.

According to campaign consultants, petition-gathering firms are charging statewide candidates as much as $250,000 to get on the primary ballot.

While Lebsock had yet to file his campaign finance report for the just-completed 4th Quarter at press time – reports are due by midnight Tuesday – he had just over $12,000 cash on hand at the end of the previous quarter after raising roughly $26,000 through Sept. 30.