A criminal allegation. A secretly recorded call. The GOP race for governor takes dramatic turn.

Walker Stapleton, the front-runner in the Republican race for governor, is facing accusations from a GOP rival that he broke state law when collecting signatures to qualify for the primary ballot.

Doug Robinson, a first-time candidate and nephew of Mitt Romney, is demanding the secretary of state’s office conduct a formal investigation after a secretly recorded phone call raised questions about one person circulating petitions for Stapleton, the current state treasurer.

“We spent so much time and money trying to do this the right way it makes me upset that people were doing it the wrong way,” Robinson said in an interview after claiming Stapleton’s petitions were “gathered illegally.”

The extraordinary move comes as Robinson struggles to gain traction in a crowded field in which Stapleton tops the early polls and fundraising reports. The dispute echos concerns from 2016, when forged voter signatures marred the Republican primary for U.S. Senate — a move that contributed to the party’s loss in November.

Read more: https://www.denverpost.com/2018/03/30/walker-stapleton-doug-robinson-petitions-signatures-investigation/