GOP Arizona Corporation Commission candidate faces loss of $370,000 from Clean Elections

A Republican running for the Arizona Corporation Commission is facing allegations that he filed misleading financial reports and is at risk of losing out on hundreds of thousands of dollars in publicly-funded campaign dollars.

State lawmaker Ralph Heap, who secured one of two Republican nominations in the July 21 Corporation Commission primary, is running as a Clean Elections candidate, meaning he has agreed to forgo money from PACs, corporations and other large donors in exchange for a public funding from the Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission.

This year, qualified Corporation Commission candidates are eligible for up to nearly $370,000 in Clean Elections funding.

But Heap might not see a dime.

That’s because he has not filed a sworn statement affirming he has filed accurate campaign finance reports that show how much money his campaign raised and how it was spent.

“Dr. Heap has not submitted such a statement therefore no funds may lawfully be released,” Clean Elections Executive Director Tom Collins wrote in a letter to Heap’s attorney Tim La Sota on July 20.

Arizona voters created the Citizens Clean Elections Commission in 1998 to, among other things, create a “clean” funding alternative for candidates who want to distance themselves from the perception that large donors hold undue influence over them.

For years, Corporation Commission candidates have opted for Clean Elections funding after utility-backed dark money campaigns rocked commission elections in the mid-2010s.

Under the rules, candidates must collect a certain number of $5 donations to qualify for funding and are still free to accept individual contributions up to $220.

Signs

According to the Secretary of State Office's campaign finance website, Heap has appeared to comply with those rules, though his campaign has had to refund multiple donations to family members — including his son, Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap — to avoid violating the $220 rule and had to refile its report for the first quarter of 2026 a total of 17 times.

But critics argue those campaign finance reports are inaccurate.

West Valley Republican Lisa Everett filed a complaint against Heap with the Clean Elections Commission questioning whether Heap reported all donations and spending by the campaign.

Everett said she personally saw “hundreds” of Heap campaign signs in the West Valley alone even though Heap only reported one $644.47 expenditure for signs at Mesa Sign Shop.

“Because this is a statewide race, it is reasonable to assume that campaign signs may be deployed in multiple counties across Arizona,” Everett wrote. “If the number of signs observed in the West Valley is representative of activity elsewhere in the state, the total cost associated with the sign program could be substantial.”

The Arizona Agenda, which first reported on Heap’s Clean Elections issues, found that campaign signs like Heap’s can cost anywhere from $25 to $50 apiece and candidates running in much smaller areas have spent thousands of dollars with Mesa Sign Shop on their races.

Heap and La Sota did not respond to a request for comment and have yet to refute the allegations in communications with the Clean Elections Commission.

“At this time I am still reviewing this matter and am as of yet unable to concede the allegations in the complaint letter,” La Sota wrote to Collins on July 27. “As such, this letter should not be taken as an admission of any facts or law cited.”

Money problems

Collins said it will be up to the five-member Clean Elections Commission to determine whether there is reason to believe a violation occurred and to authorize a further investigation.

But he said Everett’s complaint about the signs isn’t the issue that is immediately holding up Heap’s Clean Election funds.

Rather, Clean Elections can’t disburse any money to Heap until he signs that statement confirming he has filed all of his campaign finance reports accurately.

And, so far, Heap has not signed that document.

“At this point, I do not have authority under the applicable rules to release funding to your candidate,” Collins wrote in an email to La Sota on July 23.

That means Heap has no avenue to raise money for his campaign heading into the general election, where he will face two Democratic challengers alongside incumbent Republican Commissioner Kevin Thompson.

That’s because Heap is prohibited from raising money from outside public sources like PACs, corporations and other large donors, unless he withdraws from the Clean Elections program.

But Heap can’t withdraw without first receiving approval from the Clean Elections Commission.

Collins told La Sota he could add that request to an upcoming open meeting agenda, but it is unclear whether Heap plans to pursue that option.

More complaints

Heap isn’t the only Republican candidate facing a Clean Elections complaint.

Incumbent Commissioners Thompson and Nick Myers, who ran together in the primary, also faced allegations they didn’t accurately file campaign finance reports. Myers lost to Heap in the primary.

In the complaint, Alex Logvin accused Myers and Thompson of a litany of violations, including that they failed to report fundraising and spending related to campaign signs.

Like the Heap complaint, Logvin claimed the roughly $2,500 in sign spending reported by Thompson and Myers could not have paid for the sheer number of signs they have placed across the state.

But Thompson and Myers said there is a simple explanation.

In a response to the Clean Elections Commission, Thompson said the signs were actually leftovers from their 2022 campaign that were reused this year by volunteers with their knowledge.

“Sometimes complaints are meritless politically-motivated hits,” Thompson told KJZZ. “Sometimes they’re the only way to hold rule breakers accountable. In our case, the complaint has a fundamental misunderstanding of the facts, which were addressed in our response. Unlike my opponent, who has made a mockery of the clean elections system, we take compliance seriously.”

Both Thompson and Myers campaigns received full Clean Elections funding for the primary in the amount of $147,836, according to campaign finance records.

Democrats Clara Pratte and Jonathan Hill also received full Clean Elections funding.