GOP-endorsed lieutenant governor candidate didn't collect enough signatures for the ballot

The GOP-backed candidate for lieutenant governor has not collected enough signatures to make the September primary ballot.

Anne Brensley in a statement Wednesday said her campaign had relied partly on an outside firm to collect the 10,000 signatures required to get on the ballot. But she said the firm, run by Republican Joe Bronske, failed to collect the promised 6,500 signatures.

"Instead of a legitimate statewide signature operation, the campaign fears it has been the victim of an unprecedented fraud scheme involving forged nomination papers and fabricated progress reports," Brensley's statement said.

Bronske did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

Three different town clerks contacted the Secretary of State's office to flag forgery concerns, Brensley said. Deb O’Malley, a spokesperson for Secretary of State William Galvin, confirmed that “a few local clerks” had contacted the secretary’s Elections Division with concerns surrounding the signatures they received.

Brensley's campaign collected 7,500 signatures before paying Bronske for services, said Jason Ross, Brensley’s campaign manager. Bronske was hired to collect 6,500 signatures at $5 per signature, Ross said. Bronske delivered less than 1,000 signatures and it’s not clear how many signatures were fraudulent, he added.

Bronske told Brensley’s campaign that he collected 6,203 signatures and was on track to reach 7,000, according to an April 30 email obtained by the State House News Service that he sent to Brensley and Ross. In the email, Bronske also said he had collected $15,000 from the campaign. Brensley’s campaign finance filings through April don’t indicate her campaign has paid Bronske.

Brensley has filed 4,058 signatures with the Secretary of State’s office as of Wednesday afternoon, O’Malley said. The Wayland Republican says she plans to file about 4,000 more.

Candidates for statewide office had a May 5 deadline to file signatures with local election offices. Then, campaigns have until June 2 at 5 p.m. to bring them to the Secretary of State’s office, according to O’Malley.

Brensley, a Wayland selectwoman and business executive, said her campaign is petitioning Galvin to give her and other campaigns who used Bronkse an additional two weeks to collect signatures. O’Malley said the secretary of state's office does not have the authority to alter or extend deadlines, as they are set by state law.

Brensley won the endorsement of Massachusetts Republicans at their party convention last month. And while she isn't running alongside a GOP gubernatorial candidate, GOP-backed Mike Minogue endorsed her for lieutenant governor ahead of the convention.

Minogue's campaign has not yet responded to a request for comment on Brensley.

Separately, Brensley and her husband recently owed tens of thousands of dollars in back federal taxes; she says they paid them after WBUR inquired about them.

A spokesperson for Republican gubernatorial candidate Brian Shortsleeve, who made the primary ballot but finished far behind Minogue at the GOP convention, said Brensley's woes cast doubt on Minogue's candidacy.

“This outcome proves two things: that Mike Minogue’s first major decision as a gubernatorial candidate is a complete failure, and that the Republican state convention is a poor judge of candidate quality and electability," Shortsleeve spokesperson Pat Nestor said in a statement.

MassGOP Chair Amy Carnevale said the party is in “active discussions” with the Secretary of State’s office and campaigns involved to “understand the ramifications.”

“The MassGOP supports a transparent investigative process moving forward,” Carnevale said in a statement.

Brensley said she has asked Bronske for her money back and has not determined if she will take legal action.

Brensley said she plans to run as a write-in candidate.

"So we are full steam ahead. If anything, I think we're just determined to work that much harder," she said.

With reporting from Katie Castellani of State House News Service.