Mitchell put back on fall ballot

Darin Mitchell will be a candidate for the Legislature after a whirlwind tour through the courts.

The Arizona Supreme Court reinstated the candidate Tuesday, minutes before elections officials started printing ballots for the Nov.6 election.

Mitchell's attorney Tim LaSota, said the candidate was pleased with the result and repeated Mitchell's assertion that he lives in the far-flung district.

Mitchell's residency was at the heart of a legal challenge launched 10 days ago when Rep. Russ Jones, who lost to Mitchell in last month's primary election, argued Mitchell should be tossed from the ballot because he lives outside Legislative District 13.

LaSota said he expected the legal fight to continue, "(b)ut we certainly like the position we're in because we're on the ballot."

Jones, R-Yuma, said he's "not giving up" on his effort to remove Mitchell from the ballot.

The legal quest is not about retaining the seat for himself, Jones said, adding that he thinks keeping the seat is a lost cause.

Jones said he is for pushing for integrity in Arizona elections.

On Monday, a Maricopa County Superior Court judge determined Mitchell lived outside Legislative District 13, which runs west from Litchfield Park to the California line and picks up parts of Yuma north of Interstate 8.

Mitchell gave elections officials different addresses on different documents, leading to a two-day vetting of his living arrangements, from where he slept to where he bathed.

Although he spent time with his fiancee at her Avondale home, which is in a heavily Democratic district, Mitchell testified that he lived in Litchfield Park in a nearly-vacant home that was being remodeled.

Monday's ruling knocked him off the ballot, prompting an emergency request to the state Court of Appeals to block the move.

The court agreed on the technical issue that Mitchell was not granted enough notice of the original suit.

Late Tuesday, the Supreme Court denied Jones' request to reverse the Appeals Court, guaranteeing Mitchell will appear on the ballot.

Jones said he does not believe he can run as a write-in candidate in the Nov. 6 election, but he will keep up his fight because Mitchell was reinstated on a technicality. The lower-court finding that Mitchell did not live in the district stands.

"It is an absolute abomination that we could go forward with this person," Jones said.

Mitchell and his running mate, Rep. Steve Montenegro, R-Litchfield Park, are the only candidates on the ballot, which virtually guarantees their election to the two House seats.

The Democratic Party does not have plans to run anyone as a write-in candidate, spokesman Frank Camacho said.

Meanwhile, Democrats used the hot-button residency issue to take aim at the sole candidate for the Senate seat in LD 13.

Camacho said Democrats believe Sen. Don Shooter, R-Yuma, is renting a condominium in the district but still living in his longtime home in neighboring District 4, which is friendlier to Democrats.

They produced photos that show the senator's car parked at the house he owns in District 4 and said his landlord has failed to file a renter affidavit required by Yuma County regulations.

Shooter said he has "reams of documents" to prove he lives in the condo.

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