Portland, Maine (AP)  A federal judge is refusing to let a disqualified candidate back onto Maine’s primary election ballot.

U.S. District Judge Nancy Torresen on Friday refused the request for a preliminary injunction by supporters of Republican Max Linn.

Secretary of State Matt Dunlap disqualified Linn from the Republican U.S. Senate primary on Tuesday after concluding that some of his nominating petitions contained forged signatures and signatures of people who’d died.

The Bar Harbor resident running under the slogan “Trump Strong” ended up 10 signatures short of the 2,000 needed to qualify.

The lawsuit alleges that Dunlap improperly used “guilt by association” when he tossed out entire sheets of petition signatures because some were believed to be fraudulent.