Topeka ? An independent Senate candidate on Thursday lost his bid to get his name on the Nov. 2 ballot.

Horace Edwards, 79, filed a lawsuit earlier this month in Shawnee County District Court against Secretary of State Ron Thornburgh, claiming the process for validating Edwards’ petition to get on the ballot was flawed.

Edwards, a former transportation secretary under Gov. Mike Hayden, had hoped to challenge Republican Sen. Sam Brownback, who is seeking a second six-year term.

District Court Judge David Bruns wrote in an 18-page ruling that he didn’t find that Edwards would “suffer irreparable harm if the temporary injunction (he sought) is denied.”

Bruns added, “although the opportunity to write in a candidate’s name is clearly not a substitute for having his or her name on the printed ballot, the plaintiff and the signers of the nomination petitions will not be disenfranchised.”

Others challenging Brownback: Democrat Lee Jones, Lenexa; Libertarian Steven Rosile, Wichita; Reform Party nominee George Cook, Mission.