The two Republican candidates seeking their party’s nomination for a seat on the Cochise County Superior Court will first have to prove they have enough valid signatures on their nominating petitions.
Roger Contreras and Jason Lindstrom each need 550 valid signatures to have their names on the ballot for the Aug. 4 Republican primary. Contreras recently turned in petitions containing 770 signatures, while Lindstrom’s petitions had more than 1,000 signatures.
But on Monday, legal challenges were filed against both men’s petitions by Sandy Russell, who is the other candidate running for the same seat. Hearings on the challenges are slated for April 28 in front of Presiding Judge James Conlogue, the judge whose bench is up for grabs this year due to his forthcoming retirement.
Russell, a former deputy county attorney, is running as an Independent and without an opponent. She is guaranteed a spot on the Nov. 3 General Election ballot because neither of her opponents challenged the 2,140 signatures she turned in. She only needed 765.
And Russell’s Herculean signature effort is directly related to her challenges of the signatures turned in by her opponents.
Among Russell’s arguments for invalidating several of the signatures collected by Contreras and Lindstrom is that dozens of voters previously signed her petitions, and it’s first-come, first-counted in elections law. She also alleges the men submitted several signatures from people who are not registered to vote, weren’t registered as of the date they signed, or who listed addresses which differ from county voter records.
There are also purported problems with illegible signatures and signatures by registered Democrats and some of Lindstrom’s petitions were materially altered, apparently through the use of white-out, Russell claims.
But Russell’s challenge of Lindstrom’s signatures is also premised on alleged problems with petition forms themselves or the signature-gathering process. Court records show she intends to argue that Wilma Mrosek Richards, a judicial candidate for justice of the peace, inappropriately served as a petition circulator for Lindstrom.
If both challenges are denied, then a contentious Republican primary is expected between Contreras, a former deputy county attorney, and Lindstrom, a current deputy county attorney. But if Russell is successful knocking one of the candidates out of the race now, then the other’s name will be the only one listed on the party’s primary election ballot.
However, if both Contreras and Lindstrom are disqualified then there won’t be a Republican candidate named on the primary election ballot. And state law prohibits a disqualified candidate from mounting a write-in campaign in the same election.
It’s possible another eligible Republican candidate could come forward as a write-in candidate for the primary or General Election. A Democrat could also come forward as a write-in candidate to take on Russell in November.
Last year longtime attorney Robert “Bob” Stachel announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination. However, he informed Cochise County Elections Director Lisa Marra earlier this year that he wished to withdraw his name from the race, and he did not file any nominating petitions.
At the time, Stachel told Arizona Daily Independent he recently started working with a new associate and was concerned he wouldn’t have the time to put forth a proper campaign. It’s unclear whether he would be eligible to throw his hat back in the ring in either the primary or General Election.