MassGOP-backed lieutenant governor candidate fails to collect enough signatures to make ballot

The GOP-endorsed candidate for lieutenant governor did not collect the 10,000 signatures required to be on the ballot, her campaign said, blaming a paid signature gatherer amid fears of fraud.

Anne Brinsley, who won the party’s endorsement for lieutenant governor with more than 56% of the vote, more than double the next closest candidate, said she collected more than 7,500 “legitimate” signatures through grassroots efforts and paid a GOP insider to collect 6,500 signatures.

Joe Bronski, chairman of the Weymouth Republican Town Committee, told Brinsley’s campaign that his company had collected 6,203 signatures as of April 30 and received $15,000 from the campaign, according to an email screenshot shared by the campaign.

Bronski focused his efforts on Weymouth, Braintree, Quincy, Easton, Hanover, and Rockland, but “the story began to unravel,” Brinsley’s campaign claims.

“Full payments have been declined. The cities where the campaign supposedly collected signatures appear to have little to no actual activity,” Brinsley’s campaign statement said. “City clerks from three cities contacted the Massachusetts Secretary of State’s Office with concerns about fraud.”

Bronski did not return a request for comment.

Brinsley’s campaign is asking Secretary of the Commonwealth Bill Galvin to extend the deadline by two weeks to collect more signatures.

Deb O’Malley, Galvin spokesman, He said Boston Globe Clerks from three cities and towns have reached out with concerns about possible fraudulent signatures submitted on behalf of some candidates. O’Malley said Galvin cannot extend or change the signature collection deadline because it is set forth in law, according to globe.

Attorney General candidate Michael Walsh and fellow lieutenant governor candidate Anne Manning Martin have also worked with Bronski and are “facing difficult issues getting to the polls,” according to Brinsley’s campaign. Manning Martin did not respond to requests for comment Thursday evening.

A Walsh spokesman said staff have until May 26 to complete signature certification, and staff have reported receiving enough certified signatures to place the candidate on the ballot.

In the alleged email included by Brinsley’s campaign, Bronski, owner of the Ancestors’ Trail Genealogy website, indicated that 7,000 signatures would cost $35,000. State Office of Campaign and Political Finance records show no payments between Brinsley and Bronski, as of Thursday.

Brinsley said globe She intends to run as a write-in candidate if she cannot get on the ballot.

“I said I was on a mission to change the country, and I meant it,” Brinsley said. globe. “And if I had to run an entire election campaign as a sticker candidate, knowing that I was at a severe disadvantage in doing so, that’s what I would do.”

Molly Farrar is a general assignment reporter for Boston.com, focusing on education, politics, crime and more.