The Citizens Clean Elections Commission unanimously voted Aug. 27 to give Arizona Corporation Commission candidate Ralph Heap two weeks to get his campaign finance reports in order.
The 4-0 vote accepted a compliance order requiring Heap to amend his campaign finance reports to reflect a purchase of signs provided on credit. He will also have to provide documentation backing up the accuracy of the reports and verifying the transaction.
In a letter to commissioners about the compliance process, Clean Elections Commission Executive Director Tom Collins stressed that the order is not a “get out of trouble free card,” and that an investigation into alleged violations will continue regardless.
A Republican activist filed a complaint against Heap earlier
this year, claiming that the number of signs around the state supporting him didn’t reflect the spending in his campaign finance reports, which showed a roughly $650 expenditure to a local sign shop. Heap’s attorney said the signs were provided on credit, which delayed reporting of the spending.
His public funding was simultaneously put on hold, pending the submission of a sworn statement affirming that his campaign finance reports were accurate. After that statement was submitted, the commission voted 3-1 to release funding.
The commission also voted unanimously last week that there was reason to believe a violation may have occurred. Heap is facing a second complaint filed with the commission, with similar allegations around signature-gathering efforts.
Heap’s lawyer, Timothy La Sota, said the orthopedic surgeon and state legislator wanted to resolve the issue, but that responses from Collins had been “unsatisfactory.”
“Dr. Heap is trying to run a campaign, and we’ve basically been bombarded by these complaints — and I think we’ve effectively rebutted them — but it was time to talk resolution, because we would rather not have to spend all of our time dealing with this commission,” La Sota said.
La Sota added that the campaign is now “afraid” to spend the delivered funds, and Heap wants to leave the program. Heap previously sought to withdraw from the program before the funding was delivered, but the commission rebuffed his request.
The commission on Aug. 27 also voted on a recommendation to claw back funding from the three candidates, who are facing questions over whether they qualified for public financing. The commission ultimately voted instead to direct Collins to complete investigations into gubernatorial candidates Risa Lombardo and Scott Neely and secretary of state candidate Duwayne Collier amid allegations of malfeasance.
“Now, Mr. Collins is demanding money back from candidates. I think it’s probably only a matter of time before we get that letter too,” La Sota said, alluding to the three candidates. “You know, under these circumstances, Dr. Heap just does not want anything to do with this program anymore.”
La Sota, who also represents Lombardo and Collier, dismissed the accusations as a “conspiracy theory.”
Myers, Thompson seek clemency over reused campaign signs
The complaints filed against Heap are only the latest of several campaign finance complaints brought against candidates in the heated Republican corporation commission primary.
Arizona Corporation Commissioners Nick Myers and Kevin Thompson asked for clemency from the Citizens Clean Elections Commission earlier this week, after receiving a campaign finance complaint about their reused campaign signs.
Myers and Thompson reused signs from the 2022 election cycle. The pair ran together to keep their seats on the five-member commission.
In a letter dated Aug. 26, the sitting commissioners wrote that they were ignorant of a rule requiring them to pay for part of the value of the signs. They added they were currently taking down the old signs and installing new ones.
An Aug. 13 complaint filed by Merissa Caldwell, co-founder of Strong Communities Action, claimed candidates should have paid for a portion of the market value of the signs before reusing them. The complaint is being evaluated, but the five-member Citizens Clean Elections Commission has yet to review its merits.
The rule in question requires candidates to pay the fair market value for reused campaign signs, or at least one-fifth of the original cost, either to their previous campaign or to the Clean Elections fund.
Both candidates qualified for public financing through the Clean Elections program. Only Thompson will advance to the November general election, however, as Myers was defeated in the primary by challenger Heap.
The commissioners argued in the letter that the fair market value of the signs is “next to nothing,” and that any problem is being resolved.
“A willing buyer in an arm’s length transaction would not pay anything close to the original purchase price, or any fixed percentage of it, for used, imperfect signage of this kind,” Myers and Thompson wrote. “Its true fair market value approaches zero.”
Caldwell said she was not satisfied by Myers and Thompson’s argument that they were unaware of the rule.
“I took it as they’re mocking the clean elections process and that as they view themselves as above the law,” Caldwell said. The Strong Communities Action PAC endorsed Heap.
Caldwell said she would like to see the Clean Elections Commission determine the value of the reused signs and rebar, investigate the complaint and apply the “same, equal accountability” to other participating candidates.
“I think that no one should be above the law,” she said. Myers and Thompson could not immediately be reached for comment.
Alaina Mencinger covers energy, tech and utilities for the Arizona Republic. Reach her at Alaina.Mencinger@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Corporation Commission candidate Ralph Heap gets chance to fix reports
