Two West Valley residents claim Republican Arizona state Sen. Janae Shamp doesn’t live in the district she was elected to represent. They want Attorney General Kris Mayes to remove her from office.
Shamp is running for reelection in Legislative District 29, where she calls Surprise home.
But two LD29 residents argue she really lives outside the district, in Wickenburg. They filed a motion with Mayes’ office, citing evidence from a private investigator who claimed Shamp’s Surprise property is sitting vacant.
LD29 residents Jim Ashurst and Bob Walling filed a “quo warranto” action with Mayes’ office laying out their evidence.
Ashurst and Walling appear to be Democratic precinct committeemen who both also hail from the West Valley.
Shamp said she gets questions about her residency every campaign cycle.
“I live in the district, I’ve been at the same address for years now, and I get these questions right about this time, every two years, just before ballots go out,” Shamp said in a text. “It is obviously political, which we all get, and each time the matter is resolved in my favor.”
Shamp’s campaign committee lists a Wickenburg P.O. box address, which is in Legislative District 30. Shamp is listed as both the candidate and the chairman of the committee.
Shamp’s husband, Archie, who goes by Skip, runs Shamp Investments LLC.
Maricopa County records show the LLC has had a house in Wickenburg since 2018, where a sign on the property describes the home as “SHAMP’S HIDEOUT SKIP & JANAE.”
The residents bringing the action say that the office should be deemed vacant because Shamp doesn’t reside in her district.
Arizona state law says legislators must be a resident of the “county” they’re elected to represent. Surprise and most of Wickenburg are within Maricopa County.
However, Arizona law also says an elected official vacates their seat if they “ceas[e] to be a resident of the district, county, city, town or precinct for which the person was elected.”
As a state senator, Shamp was elected to represent a district.
Mayes’ spokesperson, Richie Taylor, said Thursday that her staff is reviewing the action and hasn’t made any determinations yet.
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