Court, Clean Elections lack authority in challenge against Smith-Obama ad

A political advertisement in Arizona painted a misleading picture of former Mesa, Ariz., Mayor Scott Smith, a Republican candidate for governor in 2014,, as a supporter of gun control, ObamaCare and stricter regulation of greenhouse gas emissions.

By Howard Fischer | Capitol Media Services via Arizona Daily Sun

A group that mounted political attacks on former Mesa Mayor Scott Smith when he was running for governor in 2014 won’t get to challenge the authority of the Clean Elections Commission to impose a fine on it.

In a unanimous ruling Thursday, the Arizona Supreme Court said the Legacy Foundation Action Fund waited too long before pursuing an appeal of the $96,000 fine against it. What that means is that courts lacked any authority to hear the organization’s challenges, including to the authority of the commission.

But Justice Clint Bolick, writing for the court, said that does not preclude the group from pursuing other legal challenges, though those were not specified.

There was no immediate response from Jason Torchinsky, the attorney for the organization.

The case stems from a commercial that ran in early 2014 when Smith was pursuing the Republican gubernatorial nomination.

READ ON:

Share this!

Additional Articles

Top master-planned communities for 2024

By AZ Big Media Here are the Top 10 master-planned communities in Arizona, based on public voting for the 2024 edition of Ranking Arizona, the state’s biggest and most comprehensive business opinion poll. Ranking Arizona

Read More »
News Categories

Get Our Twice Weekly Newsletter!

* indicates required

Rose Law Group pc values “outrageous client service.” We pride ourselves on hyper-responsiveness to our clients’ needs and an extraordinary record of success in achieving our clients’ goals. We know we get results and our list of outstanding clients speaks to the quality of our work.