A Pima County judge is being asked to decide whether the current top Republican vote getter in Arizona’s Legislative District 17 (LD17) misrepresented her address of residence in order to get on the ballot of the Aug. 2 primary election.
Justine Wadsack is ineligible to represent LD17, according to a legal challenge filed by noted elections attorney Tim LaSota on behalf of three residents of the district. The case has been assigned to Judge Richard E. Gordan who has set a status conference on Thursday in advance of an Aug. 29 evidentiary hearing.
“Wadsack is not eligible for state Senate in Legislative District 17 under Arizona law and cannot be the Republican Party nominee,” the lawsuit contends. “Because Wadsack is ineligible to the office, the person receiving the highest number of votes for this office is Vince Leach.”
Leach, who is currently a State Senator, lost reelection by roughly 2,000 votes, although as of press time he has not publicly conceded the seat to Wadsack.
Wadsack has publicly denied allegations that she does not legally reside within LD17, which includes much of Tucson area as well as other parts of Pima County and parts of Pinal County.
1) I live in LD17.
2) Leach LOST the Primary, refused to concede & later vowed to sue for victory (friends sued for him).
3) ARS 16-351(A)(B): The statutory “Election Challenge” period ended at 5PM on April 18, 2022.
4) This is blatant, vexatious, election interference.#Dismiss— Justine Wadsack of ARIZONA FREEDOM TEAM of LD17 (@Wadsack4Arizona) August 18, 2022
Public records show that when Wadsack ran for State Senate in 2020 she was registered with an address on East 6th Street in Tucson. The residence was owned by the Wadsack Family Trust, with trustees listed as Justine Wadsack and her husband. That home on East 6th Street is still owned by the Wadsack Family Trust and is still the residence for Wadsack’s husband and family, the lawsuit contends.
But in early 2022, mandated redistricting put the 6th Street residence within the heavily Democratic Legislative District 20.
Wadsack then changed her voter registration to an address on East Oakbrook Street in the heavily Republican LD17 where Leach was the incumbent. She does not own the Oakbrook residence, the lawsuit states.
Michael Kielsky of the Daviller Law Group is representing Wadsack in the election challenge initially filed Aug. 17, the day before the statutory deadline for contesting whether someone declared elected to an office was eligible for the office at the time of election.
In addition to Wadsack, Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs is named on as a defendant based on her statutory role of canvassing the state’s primary election results. Hobbs is slated to canvass the results on Aug. 22.
Also named as defendants are the elections directors and county recorders for Pima and Pinal counties as well as the respective county board supervisors.
LaSota references the Arizona Constitution and several state laws in the election challenge, including the fact an individual “has only one residence” for purposes of election law and that someone elected to represent a political division such as a legislative district “shall be a qualified elector” of that political division.
The complaint also addresses the criteria for determining a candidate’s residence, citing A.R.S. 16-593(A)(7) setting permanent residence as the “place where a person’s family permanently resides” unless separated from the family.
Meanwhile, A.R.S. 16-101(B) describes, in part, a resident as an individual who has “actual physical presence in the political subdivision, combined with an intent to remain.”
We will let the Judge decide.
Bottom Line: I live in district, so this is a frivolous attempt to put Leach on the ballot, after the people have spoken. Leach is in denial.— Justine Wadsack of ARIZONA FREEDOM TEAM of LD17 (@Wadsack4Arizona) August 19, 2022
If Wadsack’s victory over Leach is affirmed, she will take on Democrat Mike Nickerson in the Nov. 8 General Election.