Republican Andrew Heaton has qualified by petition for the primary ballot in Colorado’s 5th Congressional District, bringing to three the number of GOP challengers U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn will face in his bid for a ninth term.

Heaton joins Lamborn, state Rep. Dave Williams and former third-party candidate Rebecca Keltie in the June 28 primary in the heavily Republican, El Paso County-based district.

Out of roughly 3,000 signatures Heaton’s campaign submitted to the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office last month, 1,518 were ruled valid, just barely clearing the 1,500 required for Colorado congressional candidates to advance to the primary.

“I can’t wait to prove to Colorado’s 5th District that I am the best candidate to send to Washington,” Heaton told Colorado Politics in a text message that thanked his volunteers for circulating petitions.

“I know I will bring years of success in the private sector to D.C. to be a big and bold voice for positive conservative change throughout CD5 and Colorado,” he added.

Heaton, a Douglas County resident and first-time candidate, is president and CEO of a telecommunications company that makes portable cellular and Wi-Fi equipment. He also owns a medical marijuana dispensary and related facilities in Colorado Springs, as well as a vanilla plantation in East Africa.

Lamborn and Keltie also qualified for the primary by petition, while Williams earned top-line designation on the ballot by winning support earlier this month from 74% of delegates to the GOP’s district assembly, enough to keep two other challengers below the 30% threshold required for a berth in the primary.

Democrats David Torres and Michael Colombe are vying for their party’s nomination in the 5th CD, which tilts toward Republicans by a 20-point margin, according to an analysis of its electorate by the independent redistricting commission that drew district boundaries ahead of this year’s election.

Keltie welcomed Heaton to the primary field.

“Just shows we have hard-working good candidates to finally choose from,” she said in a text message to Colorado Politics. “Petitioning is hard work! I know this first-hand. Heaton and I have much in common. Congrats!”

Williams, on the other hand, tore into his new rival.

“It’s not surprising that a bored marijuana shop owner, who donated to a radical Democrat and carpetbagged into the district, had to bypass the grassroots assembly voters by buying his way on the ballot,” Williams said in a text message. “Now that Republicans aren’t fooled by Doug Lamborn anymore, they won’t be fooled by Andrew Heaton either.”

A campaign spokeswoman said Heaton’s petitions were collected entirely by volunteers, contrary to Williams’s suggestion.

While state records show Heaton contributed $2,000 to Longmont Democrat Jonathan Singer in 2020 when the former state lawmaker mounted an unsuccessful bid for Boulder County commissioner, Heaton shrugged off Williams’s attack, noting that Singer works for his telecom company as a consultant and that the two collaborated on a criminal justice reform project.

A spokeswoman for Lamborn’s campaign didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.