Colorado congressional candidate David Williams will not be allowed to appear on the ballot as Dave “Let’s Go Brandon” Williams, according to a ruling the candidate intends to appeal.
After Denver District Judge Andrew McCallin ruled Wednesday that the Colorado secretary of state had the authority to bar Williams from using the nickname, the candidate announced he is planning to take his appeal to the state’s Supreme Court.
“The Colorado Supreme Court should do its job and hear this appeal because the corrupt [secretary of state] shouldn’t be allowed to violate the rule of law,” he told the Washington Post, insisting that if the high court declines to hear the case, “they are derelict in their duty and lawmakers should remove their salaries or move to term them out of office without delay.”
‘LET’S GO BRANDON’ NEW JERSEY CANDIDATE FORCED OFF BALLOT
Williams sued Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold last week for hindering his bid to use the slogan. In his ruling, McCallin conceded that Williams proved he used the nickname, which appears all over his social media and campaign material. However, the secretary of state has the discretion to reject the catchphrase, the judge found.
“It’s clear that a Democrat-appointed judge put his thumb on the scale for a corrupt Democrat Secretary of State,” Williams told KUSA.
Williams claims he began using the catchphrase as his nickname last December, but Griswold determined it was a slogan, not a nickname, according to his lawsuit. Another candidate in the state was able to run as “Blake ‘No Mandates’ Law” for a school board election last year, Williams pointed out in his suit. Law subsequently lost his race.
Other candidates across the country have also been prevented from using the catchphrase next to their names. Robert Shapiro, a congressional candidate in New Jersey, had battled election officials to use “Let’s Go Brand*n — FJB” on the ballot. He was subsequently booted from the ballot because he failed to secure enough valid signatures.
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Williams, who is challenging incumbent Republican Rep. Doug Lamborn for Colorado’s 5th Congressional District, has served in the Colorado House of Representatives since 2016. The primary is slated to take place on June 28.
“Let’s Go Brandon” has been used as a rallying cry by critics of President Joe Biden since last October, when an NBC reporter mistook a crowd’s NASCAR race chant as “Let’s Go Brandon” when they were actually chanting “F*** Joe Biden.”
