CHARLESTON — After a nearly 48-hour review, the Secretary of State’s Office rejected the candidacy of former coal baron Don Blankenship for U.S. Senate.

“According to the plain language of the law, which controls my decision, a candidate who loses the primary election cannot use the nomination-certificate process to run another campaign in the general election,” said Secretary of State Mac Warner. “Any other decision would be contrary to the law.”

According to a letter from Steve Connolly, deputy secretary of state and chief legal counsel, the Blankenship campaign was able to collect enough valid signatures to place the Constitution Party nominee on the ballot.

Data released by the office shows that Blankenship collected 11,478 signatures, with more than 7,000 of those being valid. Blankenship needed to collect more than 6,000 signatures by Aug. 1 to get on the Nov. 6 ballot, but the state’s “Sore Loser” law prevents Blankenship from running.

The Sore Loser law prevents candidates who lost a major party primary from running as an affiliated or minor party candidate in the general election. The law was strengthened by the West Virginia Legislature in March. The updated law went into effect June 5.

“The establishment politicians are at it again,” Blankenship said in a statement. “This time they think they can control who can and who cannot run for elected office. The Republican Party thinks you should be allowed to run for office, but only if you move from another party to theirs (or the co-establishment Democrats). The Republicans won’t allow you to move from their party to another one and run for office.”

Blankenship came in third in the six-man race for the Republican Party nomination for U.S. Senate May 8, losing to West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, who won with 34.9 percent of the vote. Morrisey was followed by U.S. Rep. Evan Jenkins of Cabell County with 29.21 percent, and Blankenship with 19.97 percent.

Shortly after the loss, the state Constitution Party nominated Blankenship on May 19 as their candidate to face U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin in November. Blankenship officially switched his voter registration from Republican Party to Constitution Party on May 21.

Manchin is running for his second six-year term after winning a special election for the seat in 2010 and the full term in 2012.

Blankenship has threatened to fight the decision in court.

“We are confident that the denial of my certificate of announcement will be overturned, and I am looking forward to running a spirited campaign for U.S. Senate as the only candidate who is not supported by Planned Parenthood and opiate drug distributing companies,” Blankenship said. Blankenship was taking a swipe at Morrisey, whose wife’s lobbying firm includes Planned Parenthood and several pharmaceutical companies as clients.

In anticipation of legal action, the Secretary of State’s Office secured outside counsel since Morrisey — running for Senate — is conflicted out.

“We anticipate that Mr. Blankenship will file an action to challenge the Secretary of State’s decision that he is prohibited by West Virginia law from appearing on the ballot in November,” said outside counsel Marc Williams, representing the Secretary of State’s Office. “We are prepared to defend the duly enacted laws of the State of West Virginia.”

Blankenship took to Twitter to push back against comments from Melody Potter, chairwoman of the state Republican Party. As a longtime member of the GOP, Blankenship has donated thousands of dollars to the party, as well as helped purchase a headquarters for the party in the mid-2000s.

“It is disappointing that candidates who have not been certified to appear on the ballot are attempting to circumvent our state’s ‘sore loser’ law and bypass the will of West Virginia voters,” Potter said on Twitter.

“I am not trying to ‘circumvent the state’s sore loser law,'” Blankenship fired back. “I am trying to ‘protect West Virginians Constitutional Rights.”