Arizona Corporation Commission race generates wave of complaints

The road leading up to a contentious Republican primary in the Arizona Corporation Commission race has been lined with various ethics and campaign finance complaints.

The July primary in the Arizona Corporation Commission race saw challenger Ralph Heap defeat incumbent Nick Myers. Heap and incumbent Kevin Thompson will advance to the November general election to face Democratic candidates Clara Pratte and Jonathon Hill. 

The Arizona Republic requested complaints against all Republican and Democratic candidates from the Arizona Attorney General’s Office, the Arizona Secretary of State, and the Citizens Clean Elections Commission in late July. Since then, two additional complaints have been filed with the commission.

Here are the statuses of every

complaint obtained by The Republic.

Complaints against Kevin Thompson and Nick Myers

• Allegation: Thompson, Myers accepted donations from individuals associated with regulated parties and utilities.
  • Filed where: Arizona Secretary of State, but obtained through a records request from the Arizona Attorney General's office
  • Filed when: 9/25/2025
  • Filed by who: Jessica Barnes
  • Status: Closed by Secretary of State's Office due to failure to cite a specific statute
• Allegation: The disclosures of funding source on signs supporting Thompson and Myers was about a quarter of the size required by statute. 
  • Filed where: Arizona Secretary of State
  • Filed by: Alex Logvin, who has filed various campaign finance complaints in different races
  • Filed when: 6/13/2026
  • Status: The Arizona Secretary of State did not respond to requests for the current status of the complaint. Documents published by on AZ Follow the Money show a request to dismiss filed by the candidates on the grounds that the statute was being unfairly applied and was an example "performative carping on technical minutiae by a partisan complainant."
• Allegations: Thompson and Myers, who ran as a joint ticket, failed to report the full costs of their signs and the use of a consulting firm whose number was listed on the signs. The complaint also claimed the candidates had accepted individual donations above allowed amounts.
  • Filed where: Citizens Clean Elections Commission
  • Filed by: Alex Logvin, who has filed various campaign finance complaints in different races
  • Filed when: July 15, 2026
  • Status: Filed, response requested and received following initial review. The candidates wrote in a response that the signs were reused from 2022, so were not an expenditure in 2025 or 2026, and the phone number was similarly out-of-date. They added that individual contributions would be reviewed and, if needed, returned. 
• Allegation: Myers and Thompson should have bought the signs from their previous campaign and reported the expenditure. The complaint cited a commission rule that requires candidates pay at least ⅕ of the original cost of reused campaign materials, including signs, to either the previous campaign committee or the Clean Elections Commission.  
  • Filed where: Citizens Clean Elections Commission
  • Filed by: Merissa Caldwell, co-founder Strong Communities Action
  • Filed when: 8/13/2026
  • Status: Filed. Aug. 20 is the deadline to request a response from the candidates, but an action has not yet been taken.

Complaints against Ralph Heap

• Allegation: Heap’s campaign finance reports did not accurately reflect spending on campaign signs. Filings from the candidate showed only a small expenditure for signs – roughly $650 – despite a healthy presence throughout the state.
  • Filed where: Citizens Clean Elections Commission
  • Filed by: Lisa Everett, Republican activist and candidate for Dysart Unified School District Governing Board
  • Filed when: 6/25/2026
  • Status: The Citizens Clean Elections Commission voted 4-0 on Aug. 14 that the complaint had merit, prompting further investigation. An attorney for the candidate recently said the full cost didn’t appear on reports because they were provided on credit by a local sign shop. 
• Allegations: Heap’s campaign had a larger professional signature-collecting enterprise than was reported in campaign finance reports.
  • Filed where: Citizens Clean Elections Commission
  • Filed by: Tyler Montague, president of the Arizona Public Integrity Alliance
  • Filed when: 8/3/2026
  • Status: Filed, response requested and received following initial review. An Aug. 18 response from Heap's attorney said there was no evidence in the complaint that any of the contested signatures were collected by paid, rather than volunteer, signature gatherers.

Complaint against David Marshall

• Allegation: Claimed Marshall had improperly transferred funds from a previous campaign account into his war chest for Arizona Corporation Commission. 
  • Filed where: Citizens Clean Elections Commission
  • Filed by: Vincent La, who described himself as a "concerned" Republican voter at a recent meeting of the Citizens Clean Elections Commission
  • Filed When: 1/27/2026
  • Status: Closed when Marshall withdrew from the race

Alaina Mencinger covers tech, energy and utilities for The Arizona Republic. Reach her at [e-mail].

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona Corporation Commission race generates wave of complaints