The Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that Republican Gil Gutknecht's name will remain on the ballot for the September 12th primary in the First Congressional District, despite his campaign's failure to gather required petition signatures within the candidate filing period. The court did not issue an opinion to justify their decision, though it said that one will be issued later.
In Minnesota, candidates may file a petition with at least 1000 signatures instead of paying a $300 filing fee. Gutknecht is the only Congressional candidate in Minnesota who filed a petition instead of paying the fee. Many of the Gutknecht campaign's signatures were apparently gathered four months before the July 4 to July 18 filing period. I surmise that they were gathered during the precinct caucuses and county conventions, which were held in early and late March, respectively.
Incidentally, Gutknecht primary challenger Greg Mikkelson ran on the
Independence Party ticket in 2004 and as a Green(!) in
2002.