Gary George, D-Milwaukee, will not be allowed back on the ballot before the primary election Tuesday.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal that would have allowed the state senator back on the ballot for governor.
The appeal was led by a group of Milwaukee supporters and former state Rep. Marcia Coggs. A similar appeal had previously been rejected by a Dane County court and later the state appeals court.
George was removed from the ballot by the state Elections Board in July after they concluded he did not have enough valid signatures to qualify.
After University of Wisconsin student Daniel McMurray accused George of fraud, district attorneys found his nomination papers contained 221 forged or invalid signatures.
The investigation, funded in part by campaign funds from Sen. Chuck Chvala, left state Democrats with three candidates from which to choose in the primary elections.
U.S. Rep. Tom Barrett, Attorney General Jim Doyle and Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk will vie for their party’s nomination and likely face incumbent Gov. Scott McCallum in the Nov. 5 election.
Last week, George encouraged supporters to vote for Doyle if his appeals failed.
Another independent poll was released by the Center for Urban Initiatives & Research at UW-Milwaukee this week, showing Doyle and McCallum as likely match-ups for the November election.
The study showed 20.8 percent of respondents say they have a favorable opinion of McCallum, while 29.9 percent said the same of Doyle.
Falk trailed behind with 21.4 percent, and Barrett was last with 18.6 percent. McCallum also had the highest unfavorable rating of the four candidates, with 34.9 percent of respondents saying they had an unfavorable opinion of him.
In preferences for gubernatorial candidate, McCallum was in the lead, followed by Doyle, Barrett, Falk and Libertarian Party candidate Ed Thompson. But 23.8 percent of those polled said they were still undecided — a higher percentage than those in support of McCallum.
In head-to-head match-ups between the governor and each Democratic candidate, respondents picked the Democratic candidate over McCallum.
A spokesman for Doyle said the poll showed an increase in Doyle’s lead over Falk and Barrett.
“This is the second poll this week that shows the Doyle campaign with real momentum,” said John Kraus, a Doyle spokesman. “Voters are responding to Jim’s positive campaign, focusing on the real differences between the candidates — on taxes, public safety, and bringing real change and reform to state government.”
Kraus said state voters are rejecting the negative campaign tactics of Barrett and McCallum.
