The Colorado Secretary of State’s Office announced February 19 that Eric Nelson, a Democratic candidate for House District 42 in Aurora, failed to qualify for the June 30 primary ballot. Of 1,635 signatures Nelson submitted, the state rejected 1,606. Twenty-nine survived verification — a 98.2% failure rate.
Nelson needed 1,000 valid signatures under Section 1-4-801 of the Colorado Revised Statutes. He fell 971 short. Secretary of State staff told Colorado Politics they could not recall a disqualification rate this high.
Nelson hired Touchstone, a Minneapolis-based paid petition circulator founded by Nathan Daniel Bowman, to gather signatures. Campaign director Jose Silva blamed the firm, saying the relationship has “ceased.” He cited a non-disclosure agreement preventing further comment. Bowman did not respond to media requests.
Touchstone markets itself as a leader in canvassing integrity, advertising GPS-verified tracking and anti-fraud technology. The company won a 2025 CampaignTech Award. Progressive Turnout Project, a major Democratic political action committee, took a 50% stake in its software platform last September.
Touchstone is also collecting petition signatures for two other Colorado Democrats: Heidi Henkel, running for House District 33 in Broomfield, and Matt Cavanaugh, a candidate for Congressional District 5 in El Paso County. Neither has filed petitions yet. The deadline is March 18.
This is Nelson’s third run at the HD-42 seat. The first, in 2016, ended when journalists and a private investigator hired by Aurora Public Schools confirmed Nelson had fabricated all four academic degrees on his resume. He provided forged diplomas. He served two months in the Air Force in 1998 but posed in a decorated uniform and claimed officer status. Then-Rep. Mike Coffman called for a Stolen Valor Act investigation. The APS board censured Nelson 5-2.
Nelson’s current campaign website still identifies him as “Eric D. Nelson, Ph.D.” State campaign finance records show he reported zero contributions and zero expenditures.
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