PHOENIX – Superior Court Judge Joshua Rogers heard Democrat congressional hopeful Ann Kirkpatrick answer questions in court Monday afternoon about where she lives and when she moved to Tucson — assuming she actually lives there.
The judge is being asked to kick her off the Aug. 28 primary ballot.
The lawsuit filed by three Arizona voters, supported by Matt Heinz, another congressional hopeful, doesn’t challenge Kirkpatrick’s residency itself because the law says she merely has to be a state resident and not necessarily live in the district where she is running. Instead, they argue Kirkpatrick broke a campaign law by providing false information on campaign documents regarding her residency.
They say she falsely stated on records that she lived in an apartment in Tucson, when she actually resides in a condo in downtown Phoenix.
Lawyers for Kirkpatrick filed to dismiss the lawsuit, saying their client has lived in Tucson since April 2017. They say she rents an apartment in Tucson and occasionally spends time at her home in Phoenix, about 110 miles away.
Craig Morgan, one of the attorneys seeking to keep Kirkpatrick off the ballot, said it’s unacceptable to provide false information on nominating petition documents. “It has to be accurate,” he said.
Kirkpatrick’s attorney Daniel Arellano said the U.S. Constitution bars kicking his client off the ballot based on where she lives.
Arellano said the question is whether the information on Kirkpatrick’s election documents causes confusion for voters.
“Here, there is no issue of confusion,” Arellano said.
Her attorneys contend any discrepancy about Kirkpatrick’s address on campaign documents doesn’t disqualify her from running for the office.
Former Congressman Ron Barber, the last Democrat to serve in District 2, was on hand to clear up confusion created by the Heinz suit. “Ann lives in Tucson,” said Barber. “She votes in Tucson, goes to the doctor in Tucson, attends church in Tucson, and her driver’s license, library card and voter registration card all say Tucson. She buys her groceries in Tucson and is a member of a local museum and a local botanical garden.”
If all that weren’t enough. “Matt Heinz has engaged in dirty tricks in the past, and this is just another sad example of that ugly history. He has run and lost in the district twice before and neither race was close. Perhaps that is because he lives in a neighboring district, but I think that Tucson Democrats want an honest discussion of the issues rather than more of these dirty tricks.”
Kirkpatrick said she registered to vote in Pima County a month after moving to Tucson and cast a ballot in Tucson municipal elections.
Judge Rogers said he intends to issue a ruling on Tuesday.