By State Affairs
Six candidates running for state, legislative and congressional offices are awaiting final word from the Arizona Supreme Court on whether they can continue their campaigns.
The candidates initially survived legal challenges to their candidacy in superior court and will have to clear one more hurdle after those cases were appealed to the high court.
Five of those six candidates are fighting appeals from plaintiffs who want to knock them from the ballot. The other is asking the Supreme Court to stay on the ticket.
The six are just a fraction of the 22 contenders running in state, legislative and congressional races who have faced potentially candidacy-ending litigation. So far, five have overcome their challenges to remain on the ballot, while nine others have withdrawn and two have been removed altogether.
Here are the candidates who need final approval from the Supreme Court to stay on the ballot:
- No Labels gubernatorial candidate Hugh Lytle overcame both a signature challenge and a claim that he should be disqualified for using a business address instead of an actual residential address. He’lll have to fight the address claim one more time at the Supreme Court.
- David Rose, candidate for the state House in Legislative District 30, successfully proved in superior court that he had expunged his past felony convictions and regained the civil rights necessary to vote and run for office, but now has to do the same at the Supreme Court.
- Iman Bah, a No Labels candidate running in Congressional District 6, submitted enough signatures to qualify for the ballot, according to a superior court judge, but now faces an appeal.
- Democrat Rep. Alma Hernandez seeks a seat in the state Senate and was granted a spot on the ballot, despite unpaid campaign finance fees, by a Pima County Superior Court judge. Her case is now on appeal to the state high court.
- Hernandez’s sister, Democrat Rep. Consuelo Hernandez, faced and triumphed over the same claim of unpaid campaign finance fees and missing reports in her candidate challenge but now must fight the same fight on appeal.
