Less than a week ago, Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton predicted that his running mate, Shelton Mayor Mark Lauretti, would fall short of the signatures he needed to gain ballot access. On Tuesday, Secretary of the State Denise Merrill confirmed his prediction.
Merrill’s office found that Lauretti fell 1,467 signatures short of the 8,190 he needed in order to gain ballot access.
Lauretti, who didn’t receive enough support at the Republican convention to run for governor, teamed up with Boughton after Heather Bond Somers dumped him as her running mate shortly after the convention. At that point the only way Lauretti could get on the ballot was to collect the signatures of 8,190 Republican voters.
A large amount of signatures ended up getting tossed by local registrars despite the initial optimism of the Boughton campaign. Boughton announced his decision to drop out of the race last Wednesday before the official tally was released.
