An attorney for Ralph Heap, the challenger who beat incumbent Nick Myers for one of the Republican nominations for Arizona Corporation Commission, is arguing that the state Legislature didn’t report the full cost of campaign signs because they were provided on credit.
A complaint filed with the Citizens Clean Elections Commission last month claimed Heap's reported spending on campaign signs — under $650 at a local sign shop — didn’t reflect the actual number of signs supporting him around the state. Heap, a state legislator and orthopedic surgeon, is seeking one of two seats on the five-member Arizona Corporation Commission.
“It is true that campaign signs were placed supporting Dr. Heap’s candidacy for Corporation Commission and that his campaign finance
reports do not yet reflect an expenditure for those signs,” wrote Timothy La Sota in a response letter. “But there is no violation of law.”
La Sota’s letter comes after a second complaint was filed against Heap in August and after the Citizens Clean Elections Commission voted unanimously to prohibit Heap from withdrawing from the public financing program.
The letter includes an affidavit from Jim Torgeson, the owner of Mesa Sign Shop, which states that the business owner regularly delivers orders of a certain size to political and nonpolitical clients he deems creditworthy. Heap did not respond to a voicemail from The Arizona Republic.
La Sota also called for the Citizens Clean Elections Commission to release Heap’s public financing. La Sota previously sought to withdraw Heap from the program, but the commission unanimously rebuffed his request last week.
At an Aug. 4 special meeting to decide whether Heap should be allowed to withdraw, La Sota said even if true, the accusations against Heap weren’t out of the ordinary.
“What Dr. Heap’s been accused of is sort of a commonplace in campaigns, where sometimes — you know, at least just taking the accusations as if they were true — it’s certain parts of the campaign get ahead of themselves,” La Sota said.
The complaint is being investigated. The nonpartisan Citizens Clean Elections Commission will determine if a violation has occurred.
Republican activist Lisa Everett, who filed the July complaint, said La Sota’s letter doesn’t clarify why Heap has yet to sign a statement certifying his campaign finance reports are accurate. Without that statement, Heap’s funding can’t be released. Qualifying candidates in the 2026 Arizona Corporation Commission race are eligible for $147,836 for the primary election and $221,915 for the general election.
“Instead, the questions become when Heap ordered and received the signs, what their full value was, when the campaign became legally obligated to pay for them, how that obligation was reported, and whether obtaining the signs on credit complied with the Clean Elections Act and applicable spending limits,” Everett wrote in a Monday post on X.
Everett has been asking Heap to withdraw from the race — a push that has been unpopular with some of her fellow Republicans online. But Everett says there's another faction that plans to write in Myers' name come November.
Everett isn't deterred by the infighting. “If he had a D in front of his name, those people would be cheering me on,” Everett told The Arizona Republic.
Consultant questions Heap's cost per petition signature
On Aug. 3, conservative consultant Tyler Montague, president of the Arizona Public Integrity Alliance, filed a similar complaint to Everett’s. Instead of looking at signs, however, he looked at petition signatures.
Based on a review of all of Heap’s petition signatures, a large proportion — roughly 45% — of Heap’s signatures were collected by people who have, at one point, been registered as paid petition circulators or otherwise associated with one of the companies that collects signatures, Montague said. Another chunk shows signs that may have been circulated by professionals, not volunteers.
Montague said that based on payments from other candidates, Heap’s cost-per-signature appears to be a sweetheart deal. Campaign finance records reviewed by The Arizona Republic show that about three-quarters of Heap’s $9,441 in campaign expenditures went to petition collecting firm Uncle Sam Petitions.
“They were focusing on the signs, and I think that’s only half of the problem here,” Montague said.
Montague isn’t convinced by La Sota’s argument. The commission will now have to weigh in on when it’s appropriate to report a campaign expenditure — when you’re engaged in the campaign activity or when payment is submitted, he said.
Montague said commission staff has confirmed receipt of his complaint. Complaints filed with Clean Elections receive a preliminary review by staff before they're accepted. After being accepted, staff members will request a response from involved parties and conduct an investigation. Then the five-member commission will decide if there's evidence of a violation and if penalties should be assessed.
Clean Elections Commission Executive Director Tom Collins told The Arizona Republic that a letter requesting a response would be drafted imminently.
'I think he got bad advice and listened to it'
Montague said he would like to see the commission dig into whether someone was advising Heap’s campaign.
“I think Ralph Heap is basically an honest person, he’s a decent guy,” Montague said. “He operated on my mom and my brother and did a good job, we appreciate it. I don’t think he set out to cheat the system. I think he got bad advice and listened to it.”
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Ralph Heap's attorney weighs in on campaign sign cost dispute
