Independent U.S. Senate candidate with unconventional campaign misses filing deadline

Texas Elections 2018

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz defeated Democratic challenger Beto O'Rourke in the race for U.S. Senate. View full 2018 Texas election results or subscribe to The Brief for the latest election news.

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^{Editor's note: This story was updated to include information on other candidates in the U.S. Senate race.}

Jonathan Jenkins, an independent candidate for U.S. Senate in Texas whose unconventional campaign has drawn Republican objections, has missed the deadline to submit the signatures needed to appear on the November ballot. 

The deadline was 5 p.m. Thursday, and the secretary of state's office did not receive any application from Jenkins, according to a spokesman for the office, Sam Taylor. Jenkins, a tech entrepreneur from Euless, would have had to turn in more than 47,000 signatures to qualify for the November ballot, which already features the Republican incumbent, Ted Cruz, and his Democratic opponent, U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke of El Paso. 

Jenkins, who said earlier this month he was "100 percent confident" he would turn in enough signatures by the Thursday deadline, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Neither did a spokesman for his campaign. 

Jenkins' run has drawn attention for its unusual setup. He is being backed by a for-profit company called the Indie Party, which has received millions of dollars from start-up investors and which Jenkins founded before launching his Senate bid.

The peculiar arrangement prompted a Federal Election Commission complaint earlier this month from Harris County GOP Chairman Paul Simpson, who alleged the Indie Party was illegally giving corporate contributions to the Jenkins campaign and coordinating with it, among other things.

In addition to Cruz and O'Rourke, the race includes the Libertarian Party's nominee, Neal Dikeman.