Republican gubernatorial hopeful Marc Holtzman has failed to get the necessary signatures to petition his way onto the ballot in November.

Holtzman has five days to appeal Dennis’ notice of insufficiency. Holtzman came up 333 signatures short in the 1st Congressional District, and 410 short in the 7th Congressional District, both which cover parts of the Denver metro area. ore than 4,200 signatures could not be matched to congressional districts, which Holtzman campaign manager Bob Gould said needs to be examined.

Holtzman is not going down without a fight.

“If necessary, we will take this to the Supreme Court of Colorado,” he said. “Under absolutely no circumstances will I drop out.”

Congressman Bob Beauprez isn’t waiting for an appeal. He’s already declared himself the winner.

Holtzman got more bad news yesterday:

A judge ruled Holtzman broke campaign finance laws by appearing in anti-Referendum C ads that were intended to jump-start his run for governor.

Holtzman also has been losing key campaign staff:

Additionally, Holtzman has lost a number of key staffers, including his treasurer, Meyer Saltzman; finance chairman Blair Richardson; campaign manager Dick Leggitt; and most recently, Lynne Cottrell, his field director for Arapahoe County.

All in all, things are not going well for Mr. Holtzman.