DENVER — A Republican state lawmaker running for Congress in El Paso County wants his name on the June 28 primary ballot to include "Let's Go Brandon."
State Rep. Dave Williams (R-Colorado Springs) qualified for the primary ballot at the Congressional District 5 (CD5) assembly in Colorado Springs, earning him the top name on the ballot for CD5.
Williams is trying to unseat incumbent Rep. Doug Lamborn. The eight-term congressman will be on the ballot below Williams, since he qualified for the ballot by collecting signatures. Rebecca Keltie and Andrew Heaton also qualified for the ballot by collecting signatures.
Candidates who go through the assembly process and receive the highest support are given the benefit of being the first name voters see on the ballot. To qualify for the ballot by going through the assembly requires 30% support of the delegates who attend.
Williams filed a lawsuit on Monday to force Democratic Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold to list his name on the ballot as "Dave 'Let's Go Brandon' Williams."
"Let's Go Brandon" is code for "F--- Joe Biden." It started at an Oct. 2 NASCAR race where the winning driver, Brandon Brown, was being interviewed after the race. The crowd began chanting "F--- Joe Biden," but the reporter said to him that they were chanting "Let's Go Brandon."
The lawsuit states that Williams uses the phrase as a nickname.
Colorado law allows candidates to use a nickname on the ballot if they regularly use it and it doesn't include any part of a political party's name.
The lawsuit states that the secretary of state rejected the phrase because it was a slogan and not a nickname.
"This 'political slogan' standard does not exist in Colorado law," the lawsuit states.
In November, a Loveland school board candidate appeared on the ballot as Blake "No Mandates" Law.
"When the time came up to put my name on the ballot, I said, you know what? I’m already going by it, might as well be on the ballot, so I put it on as a nickname," Law told 9NEWS.
He said he felt passionate about getting rid of extensive mandates in schools.
A spokeswoman for the Colorado Secretary of State's Office provided the following statement regarding the lawsuit: "While Colorado statute does permit the use of nicknames on the ballot, our office does not believe this is a good faith use of that statute and will cause confusion for voters. The Secretary of State’s Office looks forward to defending our practice of ensuring the ballot remains clear and accessible for all Colorado voters."
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