Arizona Clean Elections director finds evidence Republican Ralph Heap 'engaged in illegal activity'

At a meeting Friday, the executive director of the Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission will ask commissioners to continue withholding campaign funding from Republican Ralph Heap over concerns he violated state campaign finance laws.

Heap is running for the Arizona Corporation Commission as a Clean Elections candidate, meaning his campaign has agreed to forgo large donations and outside funding in exchange for public dollars distributed by the commission.

But, in an email last month, Collins told Heap’s attorney that the commission was withholding hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding, because the candidate had not signed a sworn affidavit confirming the accuracy of his campaign finance reports, which detail spending and fundraising.

The decision came as Heap faced a complaint filed with the commission alleging he had not disclosed who paid for hundreds of campaign signs that appeared throughout the state earlier this year.

Heap still has not spoken publicly about the allegations — or a separate complaint alleging he didn’t say who paid to gather signatures to qualify him for the ballot — but his lawyer denied the claims.

In a letter to the commission, attorney Timothy La Sota said Heap received a line of credit from Mesa Sign Shop to pay for the signs, an agreement critics say violates the law and undermines the basis of the Clean Elections program.

Heap signs

Heap finally signed the affidavit on Aug. 12 and La Sota asked the commission to “remit the funds” today — referring to the $147,836 qualified Corporation Commission candidates can receive during the primary campaign.

But Executive Director Thomas Collins is asking the commissioners not to release the money.

That’s because, according to Collins, there is evidence Heap “engaged in illegal activity” by violating Clean Elections rules.

First, Collins said Heap still hasn’t filed new campaign finance disclosures reporting who paid for the signs.

“Therefore, absent an amendment to his campaign finance reports showing a loan or advance from Mesa Sign Shop, an Arizona LLC, or his own personal financial involvement in that transaction, the reports are not accurate,” Collins wrote to commissioners.

Even if Heap does that, Collins said, the transaction itself violates a Clean Elections rule barring participating candidates from taking on debt that exceeds the actual amount of money their campaigns have in the bank, called cash on hand, before they qualify for funding.

Heap qualified on July 20.

“Heap violated the Commission rules by incurring debt more than his cash on hand prior to qualifying for Clean Elections funding,” he wrote.

In his own signed affidavit, Mesa Sign Shop owner Jim Torgeson said he did extend a line of credit to Heap — with no written contract — after Heap’s campaign ordered signs in late April.

The Heap campaign currently reports it has $9,555 on hand. And a report covering the campaign’s fundraising through March 31 reported less than $2,000 cash on hand.

That would not be sufficient to cover the costs of the hundreds of campaign signs Heap’s campaign deployed, which can cost candidates upwards of $30 each, according to records reviewed by KJZZ.

“Dr. Heap obtained goods and services from Mesa Sign Shop that he has not yet paid for, and his campaign finance reports do not disclose the transactions, which they must, in my view,” Collins wrote. “This transaction and failure to report represent illegal activity that goes to the heart of Dr. Heap’s agreement to participate as a Clean Elections candidate.”

La Sota, Heap’s attorney, argued Heap didn’t have to disclose the campaign sign transaction immediately, citing state laws that exempt lines of credit from the definition of a campaign contribution or expenditure.

“No,” La Sota said when asked if the campaign planned to file new financial reports. “It doesn’t go on the report.

However, Clean Elections candidates voluntarily subject themselves to numerous rules and regulations that don’t apply to traditional candidates, including the prohibition on large donations.

And Collins told the commissioners La Sota’s arguments “are unavailing.”

Collins previously told KJZZ the various rules and regulations on “clean” candidates are there to uphold the purpose of the Arizona Clean Elections Act, which voters approved in 1998 to provide an alternative avenue for campaign fundraising that isn’t influenced by political action committees and large donors.

“So if you didn't backstop that by making clear you cannot go into debt beyond those dollars, those limits would not be meaningful,” Collins said.

It’s unclear exactly how many signs Heap’s campaign purchased.

One complaint documented 184 signs throughout the Valley.

And Republican Corporation Commissioner Nick Myers, who lost to Heap in the primary, told the Clean Elections Commission there could be many more.

“Please be advised that Mr. Heap represented to me verbally on July 7, 2026, that he had procured one thousand signs for his campaign,” Myers wrote in a sworn affidavit on July 31. “He did not indicate how or from whom he received the resources necessary to finance this acquisition.”

Myers recently received a cease-and-desist letter from the conservative Arizona Free Enterprise Club after he accused the group and state Sen. Jake Hoffman of approaching him with a scheme to circumvent campaign finance rules in 2022.

The next steps

The Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission will meet on Friday to discuss the sign complaint and whether to release Heap’s campaign dollars.

Its decision could have a profound impact on the Arizona Corporation Commission race, where Heap and Republican Commissioner Kevin Thompson are running against Democrats Clara Pratte and Jonathon Hill for two open seats.

If the commission finds Heap violated the law and continues to withhold his money, he will find himself at a significant financial disadvantage with just three months until the general election.

That’s because he won’t be able to tap into the nearly $370,000 in funding available to Clean Elections candidates running for the Corporation Commission.

And he won’t be able to fundraise through most traditional avenues, such as PACs and businesses, unless the Clean Elections Commission gives him permission to withdraw from the program.

And the commission already voted once to reject that request earlier this month.