AUGUSTA, Maine (AP)   A Republican who hoped to unseat independent U.S. Sen. Angus King has lost his fight to stay on the ballot over allegations of invalid petition signatures.

Democratic Secretary of State Matt Dunlap on Tuesday invalidated enough of financial planner Max Linn’s signatures to prevent Linn from appearing on the June Republican primary ballot.

Linn’s spokesman said he’s disappointed in the findings. A Maine judge will hear arguments Wednesday.

Linn’s lawyer said some “hanky panky” led to the submission of fraudulent signatures.

Republican state Sen. Eric Brakey also is seeking King’s seat and would have faced off with Linn for the GOP nomination. He said too many of Linn’s signatures were duplicates or from deceased or unregistered voters.

Dunlap said Linn had 1,990 valid signatures, just shy of the 2,000 needed.