Third-party gubernatorial candidate Hugh Lytle will remain on the ballot after the state Supreme Court tossed out the last of multiple challenges against him on Monday.
Lytle is running for governor as a member of the No Labels Party, but two people tried to keep him off the ballot before the July primary election.
One of Lytle’s primary challengers, Teri Ann Hourihan, and a Democrat named Craig Beckman — represented by a firm tied to Gov. Katie Hobbs — filed similar complaints hoping to disqualify Lytle.
The challengers argued that Lytle used an improper address on his paperwork. It was the address of a private mailbox in Scottsdale, not his residential address, which is also in Scottsdale
However, since Lytle’s residential address and the address he used are both in Arizona and he’s running for a statewide office, a lower court determined the challenge was invalid.
Beckman appealed, but the state Supreme Court affirmed the lower court’s decision on Monday.
The court determined that although Lytle deviated slightly from state laws dictating when candidates are allowed to list P.O. box addresses, he “substantially complied” with the law, and didn’t confuse voters.
The Supreme Court did add a caveat into their decision, however.
“A candidate would flirt with disqualification if the candidate gave a bogus address with the intent to mislead different factions to gain political advantage in the course of seeking nominating petition signatures. However, in this case, we do not see how using an established business address in the same city and county would lead to confusion,” the court stated.
“This is a historic day for Arizona and a momentous day for Arizonans. The state’s first viable Independent candidate for Arizona Governor in decades is on the ballot,” Lytle said in a statement following the decision.
Lytle stated his victory in the case is a declaration to all unaffiliated voters “that won’t be stopped by Arizona’s Governor, disgruntled rivals, or partisan operatives worried about their grip on power.”
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