aving laid off his campaign staff and replaced his attorney with himself, Republican US Senate candidate Jack E. Robinson yesterday asked the Supreme Judicial Court to overturn a decision last week to knock him off the GOP primary ballot.
''We are a one-man band, but we are not going to give up. We are going to keep fighting,'' Robinson told reporters just after he filed his appeal with the court. ''We lost the battle, but the war's not over.''
Under the law, Robinson, whose nomination papers fell 14 certified signatures short of qualifying him for the September primary ballot, can appeal to the SJC. A date for his appeal, which will be heard by a single justice, has not been set.
In a ruling last week, the state Ballot Law Commission said it found a ''pattern of forgery'' involving 90 of the signatures that Robinson submitted and referred the matter to the attorney general's office for possible prosecution. The ruling followed a Democratic challenge to Robinson's signatures.
Robinson yesterday distanced himself from the allegation, saying it was ''unfortunate'' and that he did not know how it could have occurred. ''We had nothing to do with it,'' he said. ''We will cooperate and hopefully get to the bottom of it.''
Meanwhile, Robinson, the only declared GOP candidate hoping to challenge US Senator Edward M. Kennedy, appeared to be backing away from his vows to launch a write-in campaign to win the nomination if his legal appeal fails.
He needed 10,000 certified signatures to earn a spot for the primary ballot. He would need 10,000 write-in votes to win the Republican nomination.
''I haven't decided permanently whether we will do it or not,'' Robinson said. ''We're putting all our eggs in the legal basket right now.''
''This is our last shot,'' he said at another point, referring to his appeal.
His candidacy has been rejected by most state Republican leaders and Governor Paul Cellucci following embarrassing disclosures this spring of controversies in his background, including allegations of sexual assault by a former girlfriend.
Cellucci yesterday said he was not inclined to again call on Robinson to drop out of the race. ''I suggested that to him several months ago, but he obviously didn't take my advice,'' the governor said. ''I am not going to advise him again.''
Robinson's legal argument in the appeal rests with his claim that Democratic Party officials failed to sign the challenge notification sent to him and, therefore, the party's action had no legal standing.
Robinson also wants the SJC to reject Secretary of State William F. Galvin's decision to throw out 179 signatures because they were collected on papers that were not exact copies of the state's official nomination form. Candidates may copy nomination papers, but Galvin said an SJC ruling requires they be exact copies.
Robinson said he has spent more than $200,000 to gather the signatures and for legal fees to defend his nomination papers. Attorney Michael C. Gilleran, who represented him before the Ballot Law Commission, said he and Robinson made a ''cordial'' decision for Robinson to take over the case.
''I want to be at the helm of this,'' said Robinson, who is also an attorney but who has never handled a ballot law issue. ''This is a unique case and I don't want to give it to anyone else but myself.''
