Topeka ? Horace Edwards, a businessman who once ran the state Transportation Department, has failed in his bid to get on the November ballot to run as an independent candidate in the U.S. Senate race, it was announced Tuesday.

Edwards, 79, of Topeka, had served as secretary of transportation under former Gov. Mike Hayden. This summer, Edwards launched a petition drive to get on the ballot, saying U.S. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., had become too concerned with socially conservative issues.

Edwards needed the signatures of at least 5,000 registered voters, and while he got the signatures of 5,267 people, apparently several thousand were not registered to vote.

The Secretary of State’s Office wrote Edwards informing him he didn’t get the required number of signatures.

Edwards said he would either ask voters to write in his name on the ballot or throw his support behind Democratic challenger Lee Jones.

“I consider Lee Jones a lot less dangerous than Senator Brownback,” Edwards said.

Edwards, who formed his own engineering consulting firm after leaving state government, has criticized Brownback for focusing a lot of his time on socially conservative issues, such as a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.

“If you can figure out how I can get him out in the town square, let me know,” Edwards said.

Edwards had said he used the petition process to try to get on the ballot because he decided to run after the regular filing deadline for candidates had passed.