The Arizona Green Party is calling on Secretary of State Adrian Fontes to remove two “sham” candidates from the November ballot — something Fontes’ office says he can’t do.
State Green Party officials have long said gubernatorial candidate Risa Lombardo and secretary of state hopeful Duwayne Collier aren’t actually members of their political movement, accusing both of waging spoiler campaigns backed by Republicans.
Lombardo and Collier are also facing allegations their campaigns falsified records to obtain millions of dollars in from Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission, which provides public campaign funding to candidates who forgo large donations from PACs and businesses.
The commission voted last week to continue an investigation into those claims, which could result in the candidate’s being forced to pay back the money.
But Arizona Green Party officials want the state to go a step further, sending a letter to Fontes asking him to remove them from the ballot. It is also asking Fontes to replace Lombardo and Collier with Carlos Melendez and Jon Ralston, Green Party-endorsed write-in candidates who lost in the primary election.
“What the investigative reports did is verify what we were aware of all along about there being sham imposter candidates from outside the party hijacking our ballot line,” Arizona Green Party candidate Mike Cease said.
Reporting by the Arizona Mirror revealed that both candidates have ties to Republican politics, including sending millions in public campaign funds from the Clean Elections Commission to a mysterious Nevada firm tied to GOP operatives.
And KJZZ reported that Collier collected signatures to help Republican Corporation Commission candidate Ralph Heap qualify for the ballot. Heap is facing a separate complaint with the Clean Elections Commission, and all three candidates are represented by Timothy La Sota, a Republican election attorney.
The Green Party cited a state law that allows the Commission to punish candidates who violate its Clean Elections rules, including “disqualification of a candidate or forfeiture of office.”
But the Secretary of State’s Office said it cannot act on its own to remove candidates from the ballot.
“This action would require an actual court order or voluntary withdrawal by candidates,” Calli Jones, a spokesperson for the secretary of state, said. “The party does not get to remove its nominees unilaterally.”
Lombardo and Collier have not responded to requests to comment on the allegations they are not legitimate Green Party members, though they have each taken to social media in recent days touting themselves as alternatives to the major party options.
“Remember … you are NOT required to choose the lesser of two evils,” Lombardo wrote. “Your vote belongs to YOU, not to a political party.”
Cease said the party went straight to the Secretary of State’s Office because the November election is fast approaching and county election officials are already preparing ballots.
“Ballots are currently being proofed in all 15 county jurisdictions right now for the general election, and not only that but Clean Elections itself is poised to send out to 4.3 million registered voters across the state a published printed voter information guide pamphlet,” Cease said. “So these two things are both very time sensitive.”
However, that doesn’t change the fact that the law the party cited gives the Clean Elections Commission the power to disqualify candidates.
“We cannot comment on the (Clean Elections) process; however, guidance to the counties remains the same as they move forward with ballot printing at this time,” Jones said.
Lombardo has received a total of $2.8 million in Clean Elections funding. Collier has received nearly $740,000.
La Sota denied the allegations on behalf of Lombardo and Collier.
“So the campaign, the candidates did nothing wrong. We're not giving the money back,” La Sota said.
That investigation is solely looking at whether or not Lombardo and Collier qualified for that funding, Clean Elections Executive Director Thomas Collins told the commission last week.
“This is not a request that the commission impose a penalty because it believes fraud occurred,” Collins said. “This is a narrower question. The question is: Under the rules, were these candidates entitled to the public funds they received?”
At this point, no one has filed a complaint with the Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission to begin the lengthy investigative process that could eventually trigger the law allowing commissioners to remove Lombardo or Collier, Collins confirmed.
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Find everything you need to know about elections in Arizona and Maricopa County from KJZZ's politics team. -
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