Republican congressional candidate Erik Aadland has filed a lawsuit asking a district court judge to order his inclusion on Colorado’s June primary ballot, claiming he submitted enough valid signatures on nominating petitions despite an earlier ruling by election officials that he hadn’t.

In a lawsuit filed late Monday in Denver District Court, Aadland argues that state officials threw out signatures belonging to 49 Republican voters who live in the district. The lawsuit also says officials rejected 81 signatures because they didn’t match the signatures on file in a statewide voter database and asks for access to the signature files so his campaign can prove some should have been accepted.

Aadland, one of five Republicans running in the Jefferson County-based 7th Congressional District, announced a week ago that he was switching to the assembly process after the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office notified him on March 14 that he had failed to qualify for the primary by petition, falling 46 signatures short of the 1,500 valid signatures required for congressional candidates.

The candidate said Tuesday he intends to “stay the course” and continue through the April 8 district assembly, where he’ll need support from more than 30% of GOP delegates to win a spot on the ballot.

The former oil and gas executive tore into Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold in a statement describing the lawsuit, calling the Democrat a “partisan hack” and accusing her of putting “her finger on the scale” in an assumption she wouldn’t be sued.

“It appears that she has abused her powers to unduly prevent me from being on the ballot,” he said. “Not only does this smell of corruption, but it is a dangerous precedent that can affect the outcome of our elections.”

Added Aadland: “I am launching this lawsuit on behalf of all candidates regardless of party because ballot access and election integrity are fundamental to our democratic process and the workings of a free country.”

A spokeswoman for Griswold said in a statement that her office treats all candidates the same.

“The Secretary of State’s office is committed to upholding the rules around ballot access and the civil servants in the elections division work diligently and with the utmost professionalism to ensure all candidate petitions are processed in a fair and equal manner under the law,” Annie Orloff said in an email. She added: “Our office is currently reviewing the case and cannot comment further on pending litigation.”

Former Secretary of State Scott Gessler, a Republican who held Griswold’s position from 2011-2015, is one of the attorneys representing Aadland, along with his law partner, former Deputy Attorney General Geoffrey Blue.

Aadland was the third candidate to receive an insufficiency notice from the secretary of state’s Elections Division, following a Democratic congressional candidate and a Democratic legislative candidate, who were also told their petitions failed to qualify them for the ballot.

Through mid-day Tuesday, Griswold’s office had declared that three candidates submitted enough valid signatures – Republican U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn and congressional candidates Jan Kulmann, a Thornton Republican, and Alex Walker, an Eagle County Democrat.

According to the Elections Division’s ballot access manager, Aadland submitted 1,973 signatures, and 519 were rejected, leaving the candidate with 1,454 valid signatures.

The 7th CD seat is open in this years election following Democratic U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter’s announcement in January that he isn’t seeking a ninth term.

The other Republicans running in the district are former legislative candidate Laurel Imer, economist Tim Reichert, attorney Brad Dempsey and Teller County activist Carl Anderson. Reichert, Anderson and Dempsey submitted petitions – in that order – before last week’s deadline, and the secretary of state’s office is reviewing them. 

State Sen. Brittany Pettersen, a Lakewood Democrat, is unopposed for her party’s nomination.