AZ Clean Elections finds 'reason to believe' 2 corporation commissioners violated finance rules

The Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission found “reason to believe” Corporation Commissioners Kevin Thompson and Nick Myers violated its election finance rules when they reused old campaign signs.

Thompson and Myers ran as Clean Elections candidates when they were first elected to the Arizona Corporation Commission in 2022. They opted into the program again this year as they sought re-election.

Candidates in the program receive public funding to run their campaigns in exchange for abiding by restrictive campaign finance rules, including a prohibition on taking large private donations or contributions from political action committees and businesses.

The Clean Elections Commission received two complaints this year alleging Thompson and Myers violated several of those rules.

At a meeting on Thursday, commissioners did not uphold the bulk of those allegations. But they did unanimously find “reason to believe” Thompson and Myers failed to follow rules laying out how candidates can reuse supplies from past elections.

The complaint, filed by Alex Logvin, stems from large Thompson and Myers campaign signs seen around the Valley early on in the campaign.

According to an analysis by Clean Elections Director Thomas Collins, Thompson and Myers reported spending about $3,844 on signs, which likely would not have covered the cost for all of the signs in question. And those expenses were reported after the signs were already photographed in public.

Thompson and Myers said the signs were left over from the 2022 campaign and were fully paid for and reported during that cycle.

They said supporters stored the signs and reused them without their knowledge. However, in at least one social media post in 2022, Myers indicated they were collecting old signs and materials to save for future races.

But Collins said that could still amount to a violation.

That’s because Clean Elections rules require participating candidates to pay for materials they reuse from old campaigns. Those payments go into the Clean Elections Fund.

According to those rules, “a participating candidate may use assets such as signs, pamphlets, and office equipment from a prior election cycle only after the candidate’s current campaign pays for the assets in an amount equal to the fair market value of the assets.”

That fair market value must equal at least one-fifth of the cost of the original purchase price.

An attorney for Thompson and Myers said they did not knowingly violate the rules.

“I don't know whether it's in the training materials, but I'm confident that my clients didn't know about the regulation,” Kory Langhofer said. “In fact, I've been doing this for a while myself, and I didn't know about the regulation.”

According to Collins, the commission will now conduct an investigation into the situation. He wrote the rules also give candidates the opportunity to come into compliance or reach a settlement with commission within 14 days.

And, in a letter to the commission, Thompson said his campaign is already in the process of removing the old signage and replacing it with newly-purchased signs. Myers lost his re-election bid in the Republican primary and is no longer a candidate.

Thompson did contest the rule requiring him to pay “fair market value” for old signs, calling the formula used by the commission “arbitrary.”

“Measured against fair market value, the signage at issue here is worth next to nothing,” he wrote.

However, Langhofer indicated the candidates are willing to pay for what he estimates was 50 used signs to resolve the complaints.

“We'd like to have a conversation with staff afterwards about how to sort of put this behind us efficiently for a price that's fair to everyone, kind of reflects the gravity of what's happened here,” Langhofer said.

Other investigations

At the same meeting on Thursday, the commission rejected the latest attempt by Republican Rep. Ralph Heap to resolve a more wide-ranging investigation into allegations he violated Clean Elections rules and state campaign finance rules.

Heap, who defeated Myers in the GOP primary, is the other Republican candidate for the Corporation Commission alongside Thompson.

The commission is investigating Heap over allegations he failed to report who paid for campaign signs used by his campaign during the primary. Heap claims the signs were paid for using a line of credit extended by Mesa Sign Shop – a scheme Clean Elections staff claims violates the rules.

The investigation has Heap stuck in limbo as the November election fast approaches, because he cannot raise outside funds due to his status as a Clean Elections candidate. At the same time, he could be forced to pay back any Clean Elections funds spent by his campaign if commissioners conclude a violation occurred.

Collins said the investigation could drag on through the end of the year.

“We can only move expeditiously as a respondent and/or the other folks who are part of that investigation in some cases will let us, right?” he said.

Collins declined to say whether delays resulted from Heap or others involved in the investigation failing to produce requested documents.