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.

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.

Brensley, a Wayland selectwoman and business executive, said her campaign is petitioning Secretary of State William Galvin to give her and other campaigns who used Bronkse an additional two weeks to collect signatures. A spokesperson for Galvin said his office does not have the authority to alter or extend deadlines, as they are set by state law.

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.