The Arizona Republican Party and Republican candidate James Taylor are claiming victory after Democrat Secretary of State Adrian Fontes conceded defeat in the legal fight over placing Taylor on the July 30th primary ballot. The Republican Party was represented by Alexander Kolodin of the Davillier Law Group.
Taylor was nominated by the LD29 Republican Committee to fill the vacancy on the ballot, but when he went to turn in his paperwork, Secretary Fontes’ staff turned him away and Fontes wrote that he would not place Taylor on the ballot, in spite of Arizona state law seeming to direct him to. The Arizona GOP filed a lawsuit to enforce state law and after a preliminary hearing held yesterday, the Secretary of State’s office folded before the full trial could begin today.
Fontes was supported by Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer, who scoffed at reports that LD29 was meeting to select a candidate, tweeting “Board already designed the thousands of ballot styles and sent them to printer. This isn’t a thing.” At the time, sources reported that, contrary to Richer’s contention, the ballots had not yet been sent to the printer and should not have, unless Richer was admitting to violating another state statue, ARS 16-461, which requires election officials across the state to “submit the sample ballot proof of each party to the county chairman or in city or town primaries to the city or town chairman.” That had not happened according to the Arizona GOP.
Board already designed the thousands of ballot styles and sent them to printer.
This isn’t a thing. https://t.co/1avZt4KdtZ
— Stephen Richer—MaricopaCountyRecorder (prsnl acct) (@stephen_richer) May 17, 2024
NARRATOR: This was, apparently, a thing…#LD29 #AZGOP @AZGOP https://t.co/wwH9CCof3w
— Constantin Querard (@CQuerard) May 29, 2024
For his part, Fontes claimed a court order set the deadline as May 13th, but no such court order was ever presented by Fontes.
RELATED ARTICLES:
Fontes And Richer Accused Of Ignoring Law To Exclude Chosen LD29 Candidate
Now, the games being played by Fontes and Richer are at an end, and Republicans have their nominee on the printed ballot.
The Republican ballot was short one candidate after State Representative Austin Smith withdrew suddenly after having his petition signatures challenged. Taylor, who was the choice of conservatives in the district including State Senator Janae Shamp and State Representative Steve Montenegro, was quickly recruited as a write-in candidate as the AZGOP worked to ensure that this safe district would be protected in the November general election. Taylor was later challenged by Amy Husted, who launched her own write-in campaign with the support of outgoing Congresswoman Debbie Lesko, former district chairwoman Lisa Gray, and political consultant Kim Owens. The prospect of dueling write-in campaigns concerned party officials who worried that too many candidates might keep each of them from receiving the minimum number required to make the November ballot, but those concerns were believed to be resolved when the District 29 Republican Committee met and elected Taylor as the party’s standard bearer.
District 8 Democrats dealt with the exact same scenario and filled their State Senate several days earlier, but their selection was not opposed by Fontes or Richer.
“The Arizona Republican Party, the Maricopa County Republican Committee, and the GOP Committee in LD29 submitted all necessary documentation for James Taylor, the replacement for Rep. Austin Smith, chosen by LD29 GOP PCs to appear on the ballot. Despite meeting all legal requirements, our filing was unjustly rejected by Fontes,” said the AZGOP in a press release. “Today’s ruling unequivocally demonstrates that statutory requirements are just that — requirements. SOS Fontes has now accepted James Taylor’s nomination and Maricopa County has withdrawn their objection, ensuring Mr. Taylor will appear on the primary ballot. This decision is a victory for election integrity and a clear message that no one is above the law.”