The Arizona Supreme Court said three people allegedly involved in the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol can be on the 2022 ballot.
In a brief order Monday, the justices said the challengers had no legal basis to argue they were unqualified to run because challengers said they had participated in an "insurrection'' against the United States whether by being involved in its planning or actually participating.
Chief Justice Robert Brutinel, writing for the court, acknowledged there is a provision in the 14th Amendment dealing with disqualification. But even assuming that the challengers could prove that Mark Finchem, Andy Biggs and Paul Gosar were somehow guilty of that — a conclusion the justices did not reach or even consider — Brutinel said that only Congress gets to decide how to enforce that provision.
The justices also said that Free Speech for People, the group that sought to knock the trio off the ballot, filed suit under a law that allows courts to remove candidates who do not meet the qualification to run for a specific office.
But that law, they said, covers requirements under Arizona law like not being old enough or not being a resident. It does not cover whether a separate federal law disqualifies their candidacies.
Monday's ruling is virtually certain to end the matter as it is based on interpretations of state law, meaning there is no possibility of seeking federal court review.
Kory Langhofer, an attorney for Biggs, called the ruling the final “nail in the coffin” for the case — one of several similar lawsuits filed in states across the country.
“Our view is the real objective of these lawsuits was to get press coverage, certainly breathless speculation that maybe Republicans tried to violently overthrow the government,” Langhofer said. “None of it was proven of course.”
In a statement from Free Speech for People, officials lamented that the ruling denied them an opportunity to prove their allegations against Biggs, Gosar and Finchem.
The justices ruling “gives a pass to political violence as a tool for disrupting and overturning free and fair elections,” officials said.
The decision keeps intact the bid by Finchem, currently a Republican state representative from Oro Valley, to be the GOP contender for secretary of state.
Biggs and Gosar are incumbent Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives who are seeking reelection.
