Corbett ruled off the ballot

On Wednesday, Ron Corbett finally met a tackle he couldn’t break.

As a running back on the Newton High School football team that played for a state championship during the 1976-77 season, Corbett started a legacy that would eventually carry him all the way to Cedar Rapids, where he served as mayor. After setting eyes on the office of governor with plans to challenge Gov. Kim Reynolds as a Republican in the June primary, he was booted from the ballot last week. A challenge against him was upheld by the state’s election panel, but Corbett’s attorneys argued in court Tuesday in a last-ditch attempt to get the former speaker of the house back on the ballot.

Polk County district court judge David May issued a ruling in the case Wednesday evening denying Corbett’s appeal, ruling that signatures campaign staffers had crossed off Corbett’s petition with a Sharpie would not be counted towards the total.

“Mr. Ron Corbett’s nomination papers did not meet the requirements of Iowa Code section 43.20,” May wrote in the ruling.

Republican gubernatorial candidates in the state of Iowa are required to collect 4,005 signatures, roughly one percent of state’s registered Republicans. Corbett’s campaign turned in 4,091 signatures to the secretary of state’s office, but Republican blogger Craig Robinson successfully objected to 102 signatures, leaving Corbett eight signatures short of the requirement.

At issue is the number of signatures that Corbett’s campaign submitted to the secretary of state’s office. Robinson challenged Corbett’s petition, alleging that some of the signatures were duplications, a fact the Corbett campaign doesn’t dispute. In court on Tuesday, the candidate’s legal team argued that some signatures which had previously been stricken from the campaign petition were done in error, those signatures should have been added back onto the ballot.

Corbett’s attorney argued that the remaining signatures, which were crossed off the petition after staffers discovered they didn’t match county address records, should be added back on the petition. Those signatures would put Corbett over the threshold needed to appear on the ballot in the June primary election.

Wednesday’s decision means Reynolds will be the only Republican candidate on the ballot. Despite raising more than $800,000 for his campaign and holding more than $575,000 in his campaign account at the start of 2018, Corbett’s aggressive campaign to unseat Reynolds will come to an end. Corbett said he’s the victim of Republican groups that are working to force him out of the race.

“The Republicans have a large establishment and special interest groups who are trying to throw me off the ballot,” Corbett said on Tuesday. “I had more than enough signatures and I hope the judge sees that and puts me back on the ballot.”

Wednesday’s ruling leaves Corbett with no path to the governor’s office. Following the hearing in Des Moines on Tuesday Corbett said he’ll have no choice but to accept the court’s ruling.

Contact David Dolmage at 641-792-3121 ext. 6532 or ddolmage@newtondailynews.com