Arizona Legislative candidate Darin Mitchell was kicked off the LD13 ballot by Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Robert Oberbillig yesterday. The judge found that attorney, Tom Ryan, presented clear and convincing evidence, that Mitchell was not a resident in LD13.
Oberbillig found that Mitchell does not reside in LD13, but in LD19, and therefore Mitchell is not eligible to hold the office. The judge cited the credibility of the witnesses in his decision.
According to the Yellow Sheet, “the five-page ruling followed two days of intense testimony from neighbors, the landlords and Mitchell himself over whether Mitchell had establish a physical presence in the district and was eligible to hold office.”
The judge held that residency is determined on the day a candidate’s nomination paper is filed and not on Election Day. Mitchell claimed he was living in a house that according to testimony was nearly uninhabitable.
He claimed to live in a Litchfield Park residence owned by his campaign’s Chairwoman. However, neighbors said that nobody had lived there for more than a year.
Mitchell claimed that he moved into the vacant home in April and had spent the majority of his nights there, sleeping on a mattress on the floor in a bedroom. One witness said that it was hard to believe that anyone would sleep on the mattress she saw when she entered the home. Mitchell claimed that he only kept a few items of clothing in the home because he didn’t want them to get dusty from the construction.
Mitchell admitted that he does not have any written lease on the home, doesn’t pay rent, or bills for electric, gas, trash, water, or for maintenance of the yard and pool. He said he used to help pay the mortgage and electricity at his fiancée’s house, but stopped after he moved into the Litchfield Park home.
One of Mitchell’s opponents in the three-way Republic primary race, Rep. Russ Jones, brought the challenge before the court. He told the Yellow Sheet, “I’m elated for Arizona and our election process and I believe this is very precedent-setting and it sends a loud message to candidates throughout the state that you cannot game the election system … and that carpetbagging is hopefully a thing of the past.”
The precinct committeemen in LD13 will meet in Yuma to choose a replacement for the ballot. It is likely Jones will replace Mitchell. Mitchell intends to appeal the decision.