Republican House candidate vows to fight disqualification

A Republican candidate for Congress in Northern New Mexico was disqualified from the race after failing to use a legally prescribed petition form to collect voter signatures.

The state Secretary of State’s Office disqualified Anise Golden-Morper, the Albuquerque Journal reported.

“The Secretary of State was only able to count signatures submitted on the required legally prescribed form and Ms. Golden-Morper did not collect the 463 signatures required to qualify,” the office said in a statement.

The proper forms have been available on the office website since October, officials said.

Golden-Morper’s campaign accused Democratic Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse-Oliver of politicizing her office.

“Anise is being targeted by a hyper-partisan witch hunt similar to what just happened to President Trump in Washington, D.C., by a weaponized Secretary of State,” the campaign said. “We plan on taking this to the courts and fighting tooth and nail against this flagrant abuse of power.”

Golden-Morper raised the most money of any Republican candidate in the race with more than $20,000, outpacing Karen Bedonie, who raised $15,477, according to documents from the Federal Elections Commission.

Registered Democrats outnumber Republicans nearly 2-1 in the district, officials said. The district seat has long been held by Democrats.

The seat is currently held by Democrat Ben Ray Luján, who is running for the U.S. Senate seat now occupied by Tom Udall, who is retiring.