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SALT LAKE CITY — Republican candidate for governor Jan Garbett has ended her legal fight to get on the June primary ballot.
Garbett filed a motion with the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals to dismiss her effort to overturn a lower-court ruling that set lower voter-signature requirements she was still unable to meet. Her decision not to continue the court battle ends her run for governor.
“This is certainly not the outcome we worked so hard for.” Garbett said in a statement Monday.
“I am disappointed that the courts did not make Utah’s election process fair in the face of the pandemic, as so many other states have done. And of course I’m disappointed on a personal level as well. I feel I have a great deal to offer the people of this state on a great many issues,” she said.
Promising she’ll remain politically active, Garbett said she’s learned “just how hard it is for a political outsider candidate to get on the ballot in the state of Utah: It’s nearly impossible, and it’s designed to be that way. I am a person of significant but not unlimited resources, and I simply couldn’t fight the governor, the Legislature, and the courts all at the same time. I don’t think a person with fewer resources could ever have a chance.”
Garbett sued Gov. Gary Herbert and Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox after the number of signatures her campaign collected by the original mid-April deadline fell short of the 28,000 needed because, she said, of the impact of social-distancing mandates imposed amid the coronavirus pandemic.
U.S. District Judge Robert Shelby dropped the signature requirement by 32%, reflecting the time Utah’s stay-at-home order was in place, but Garbett appealed after the judge declined to reduce it further once the lieutenant governor’s office told the court it was “mathematically impossible” for her to reach the new threshold.
The lieutenant governor’s office, which oversees elections in Utah, said in a court filing Friday that only 8,711 of the 20,597 voter signatures turned in by Garbett were valid. Nearly 4,000 names were rejected because they were not Republicans while more than 3,700 were not registered voters, according to the filing.
Related:
Garbett appeals to 10th Circuit in her effort to get on Utah’s primary ballot
GOP gubernatorial candidate Jan Garbett announced Friday she has filed an appeal to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in her legal battle to get on the June primary ballot, after failing to meet the lowered voter signature threshold set by U.S. District Judge Robert Shelby.Her motion for voluntary dismissal of her appeal, filed Saturday with the Denver circuit court, states that the parties involved have signed an agreement specifying each side will bear its own costs and fees. State Elections Director Justin Lee said he could not comment yet pending confirmation from the state’s attorneys.
The deadline for certifying Utah’s primary election ballot was moved by Shelby to Wednesday. There are four Republican gubernatorial candidates who have qualified — Cox, former Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., former Utah GOP Chairman Thomas Wright and former Utah House Speaker Greg Hughes.
The lieutenant governor, Huntsman and Wright all secured a spot on the ballot by gathering voter signatures. Cox and Hughes were advanced to the primary by GOP delegates at the party’s state convention on April 25, which was held virtually.
Another Republican running for governor, Jeff Burningham, also sued the state over the signature issue but did not appeal. Salt Lake County Councilwoman Aimee Winder Newton, who, like Burningham, was counting on party delegates to advance her to the ballot after abandoning gathering signatures, chose not to take legal action.
Garbett said in her statement she “will be joining forces with the nonprofit group People4Utah to find ways to ease the burdens on political outsiders and moderate candidates of all parties. Our political leaders will be hearing from me!”
The group describes itself as “a new organization, made up of Utahns coming from a broad array of personal, professional and political backgrounds that are committed to supporting practical, pragmatic, partisan candidates in the state of Utah who will work for all of the people of Utah: Republicans, Democrats, unaffiliated and others.”
Garbett has previously run for office as a Democrat and as a member of the United Utah Party.
