Matt Soper’s legitimacy as Colorado House District 54 Representative is challenged

Dave Edwards

Former Palisade town trustee Dave Edwards is seeking to formally challenge the legitimacy of Matt Soper being seated as a Representative for Colorado House District 54.

Palisade is in House District 54.

Soper, a Republican, was elected to the HD-54 seat in November, but the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel ran a series of articles before the election that charged that the residence Soper had listed on his official Candidate Affidavit was not his true residence. If it wasn’t, Soper may not have met the legal residency requirements to run in District 54. 

To qualify for a seat in the Colorado House of Representatives, a candidate must have lived in the district for 12 months prior to the date of the election.

In his January 8, 2018 Candidate Affidavit, Soper claimed his physical address was 10 Hartig Drive in Delta, an older three bedroom house owned by his mother, Betty Ann Soper. But the house had been rented to the Carreon family since August of 2016, an elderly disabled couple and their two adult sons, one of whom is also disabled. While attempting to verify Soper’s residence, a Daily Sentinel reporter went to the house and asked Omar Carreon, 33, if Matt Soper also lived at their house. Omar told the reporter Soper did not live with them, but that his mail, including his ballot, came to the house. 

The only other address Soper has ever given as a voting residence is in Orchard City, in House District 61. 

When Matt Soper found out Omar had told the Daily Sentinel he didn’t live at the 10 Hartig Drive house, Soper had the Carreon family evicted from the 10 Hartig Drive house in retribution.

Omar Carreon has given a notarized affidavit (pdf) describing the events that led up to his family being from the home. In the affidavit, Omar said Soper had never lived at the house while they were there, nor did he maintain a room there as Soper had claimed to the Sentinel. Omar was also concerned that allowing Soper’s mail to be sent to their home might have indicated something improper was afoot, but he didn’t know Soper was a candidate for office. 

Complaint to be re-filed

On December 10, 2018, Dave Edwards filed a complaint (pdf) with the Colorado Secretary of State Elections Department about the discrepancy in Soper’s residency, but the department dismissed the complaint two days later, saying their office didn’t have jurisdiction over the residency requirement. The Secretary of State’s office said the matter had to be contested directly to the Colorado House of Representatives. When Edwards contacted House Majority Leader KC Becker to challenge Soper’s residency qualification, Becker answered via email that she had consulted the Office of Legislative Legal Services who told her the complaint must first go through the Secretary of State’s office.

Figuring out where to file

The rules for contesting an election are laid out in Colorado Revised Statutes (CRS) 1-11-208 and 1-11-208.5. The statute contains a nebulous provision saying that any person who contests an election must “file with the secretary of state a bond, with sureties, …conditioned to pay all costs in case of failure to maintain the contest.” There is no stated amount for this bond. The statute says only that “The secretary of state shall determine the sufficiency of the bond, and, if it is sufficient, approve it.” In Soper’s case this amount has been estimated to be anywhere from $2,500 to $75,000. Edwards is attempting to raise at least the minimum amount needed to meet the bond requirement to allow the complaint to go forward. He anticipates he may also need to raise money for legal fees. 

Matt Soper

If you want to contribute to  contesting Soper’s being seated as a representative to House District 54, you can go to PayPal.com, click “send” then “send money now” and use Dave’s email address dafyddco@aol.com to send a donation.

To avoid have PayPal take fees out of your donation, indicate that you’re sending money “to family or friends.” If you have difficulty with PayPal, email Dave and ask for a PayPal invoice for the amount you’d like to donate. Once you get the invoice, just click “Pay Now” and use your credit or debit card.

Dave will refund any donations that aren’t spent on the cost of bringing the complaint, or you can ask to have your donation given to the Carreon family to help them pay for a new place to live. A nice person has given them 6 months free shelter, but after that they don’t know where they will go.

Here’s a link to the latest Sentinel article on the Soper residency discrepancy.

 

 

 

  10 comments for “Matt Soper’s legitimacy as Colorado House District 54 Representative is challenged

  1. I think we need to drop this because the main idea is to have a committed and qualified person in office and Matt Soper is both from what I know of him. I talked to him informally for over a half hour before the election and was very impressed. He will do a good job. We are getting too nit-picking in politics. (did they smoke marijuana in college 30 years ago and did they inhale? etc) Soon, no one with any quality will want to run for office because of the hassle.

    • I don’t think it’s too much to expect good ethics and integrity from someone who is seeking your vote. Evicting a tenant because he told the truth to a media outlet you’ve lied to doesn’t scream integrity to me.

  2. Please put up a PO Box for donations.
    Principled Republicans will want to donate too. Has the local and state Democrats supported this action in ANY way?

  3. I tried to send donation to Dave Edwards but PAYPAL requires I select a bank to send it to.
    The email address scenario does not seem to be recognized. I would still be game to send $50 to supports Dave Edwards……………..In my previous reply I overlooked that Soper had filed an affidavit
    with application. I would think it would be a sworn affidavit…..Let me know and good luck. It is time tat the many culprits be called front and center.

  4. “Scty of State of Colorado Elections Dept. does not have jurisdiction over residency”
    but are they neither required to “validate” the residing address and district of the applicants residency? Or at least require applicant make sworn statement (or lie) that they have lived at address on application for 12 months. $2,500 to $75,000 ? WOW…………….

  5. Thank you again Ann Landman from Louisiana. I have sent a small $50 donation to Dave.
    Wheres democracy when $2,500 to $75,000 is required before legal questions can be filed…..and here in Louisiana the occupant cannot be evicted immediately even if he is behind on rent unless possibly the landlord is Donald Trump. Have a Merry Christmas…….Carroll

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