Winner of Bishop-Andrews primary will face Ehrhardt in November general election
MOHAVE COUNTY – Mohave County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jean Bishop will have opponents in the primary and general election after winning only one of the three lawsuits that alleged her prospective challengers failed to qualify for the August 4 primary ballot.
Bishop filed three legal actions challenging the current election cycle candidacies of republicans Rick Armstong and William Andrews, and democrat Jack Ehrhardt. In each case, Bishop argued her prospective opponents failed to collect the minimum number of valid signatures on nominating petitions to qualify their campaigns.
The office of County Recorder Kristi Blair conducted an analysis of signatures challenged by Bishop and she concluded that Armstrong submitted only 45 valid signatures while 51 are required to make the GOP primary. Bishop noted that the signature gathering window opened last June.
“Mr. Armstrong and I had nearly nine full months to collect and verify these signatures. The defendant has failed to file the minimum number of signatures, so he has failed to qualify as a nominee for the office of supervisor in District 4,” Bishop argued Friday. “I respectfully request that this Court issue an order invalidating the nomination of Mr. Armstrong as a candidate.”
Armstrong did not concede the challenge.
“I do have 52 valid signatures across seven petitions,” he said. Andrews tried to rehabilitate at least six invalidated signatures in an attempt to meet the requirement of 51.
Armstrong argued one signature should be validated because of confusion over a last name change in a marriage or divorce scenario. He argued another handful should be validated because petition signers put zip codes in place of blanks requiring dates instead.
Judge Jantzen noted his reluctance to eliminate a candidate but said Armstrong’s arguments did not clear the legal hurdle of proving the invalidated signatures were “substantially compliant” under Arizona law.
“I find that you did not get 51 valid signatures under the statutes and the rules and it is ordered granting the petition and not allowing you on the ballot,” Jantzen said. He noted Armstrong has a right to appeal his ruling.
Jantzen said it was a shame that Armstrong didn’t collect more signatures to withstand any campaign challenge. He noted 51 signatures is far less than the 1,200 valid signatures he had to gather years ago when seeking re-election as judge.
Bishop withdrew the other two lawsuits on Thursday after Blair’s office concluded the defendants did gather sufficient signatures to qualify their campaigns. The Recorder found that Erhardt had exactly the 32 signatures he needed to become the sole candidate in the democratic primary.
The Recorder found that Andrews had 53 valid signatures, two more than the 51 minimum requirement. As it stands, the winner of the Bishop-Andrews primary will face Ehrhardt in the November general election.
- Dave Hawkins
Running for local office is a daunting task, especially for those trying their hand for the first time. (2nd time for Armstrong and Erhardt)
It’s very important for anyone who decides to run for public office understand election laws and then follow procedures, because if elected, they will have even more rules / regulations and laws to follow.
The first step in running for office is to prepare your nomination petitions. This first step is very indicative in how they might perform (in this case) as an elected County Supervisor.
Candidates had the ability to gather valid signatures since June 2019, the Republicans needed 51 valid signatures and the Democrat only needed 32!