The race for 4th Judicial District Attorney is officially on, the Colorado Secretary of State's Office confirmed Thursday.Challenger Dan May submitted more than double the required number of signatures from registered Republicans to get his name on the Aug. 12 primary ballot against District Attorney John Newsome.May needed 1,000 signatures. He submitted 2,811, according to the Secretary of State's Office, and 2,069 were deemed valid.He gathered those signatures in 11 days after announcing May 16 his intention to run."The number of signatures that we were able to get in such a short time shows that the public has grave concerns about the leadership and the lack of personal responsibility of our district attorney," May said Thursday in a news release.May lost to Newsome in the 2004 primary election. Since there was no Democratic opponent, Newsome won the general election unopposed.There is no Democratic opponent this year, so the primary winner will be the district attorney. The 4th Judicial District includes El Paso and Teller counties.May is a chief deputy district attorney for the 18th Judicial District, which includes Douglas County.He served as a deputy district attorney here for 22 years before leaving in 2005 after losing to Newsome. May lives in Colorado Springs.Newsome said Thursday that he was not surprised May made it on to the ballot."My campaign has been up and running since the February caucuses, and the primary election presents an enormous opportunity to highlight the outstanding employees and accomplishments of this office," he said in a written statement.May will attack what he calls the office's high turnover rate and character issues involving Newsome.Newsome's campaign literature points to the office's increased "focus on economic crime," the creation of a Special Victim's Unit and "modernization" of the office with new technology and training.In 2004, the Newsome-May race was bitter at times. May was former District Attorney Jeanne Smith's handpicked successor. Newsome, then a senior deputy district attorney, was demoted during the campaign. Newsome has the support of the Colorado Springs Police Protective Association, El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa and Teller County Sheriff Kevin Dougherty.May touted the number of people willing to collect signatures for him and those who signed petitions, including police officers, former prosecutors under Newsome and elected officials, among them Colorado Springs Mayor Lionel Rivera.CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0110 or dennis.huspeni@gazette.com
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