Two candidates for county positions that oversee campaign finance failed to turn in their most recent reports on time.

Campaign finance reports detailing candidate fundraising and spending from the start of the year to April 1 were due on Monday. Republican Justin Heap, a state lawmaker from Mesa running for recorder, missed that deadline. So did Democrat David Sandoval, a Peoria Unified School District Governing Board member running for county supervisor in District 4.

Heap filed his report late on Tuesday. Sandoval hadn't turned his in as of midday Wednesday but said he intended to turn it in after being contacted by The Arizona Republic.

It's not uncommon for candidates to file their reports late. But all of Heap's opponents — incumbent Republican Stephen Richer, Republican Don Hiatt and Democrat Tim Stringham — turned in their reports on time. So did Republicans Debbie Lesko and Bob Branch, the other supervisor hopefuls in District 4, and the rest of the supervisor candidates across the county.

Heap didn't return a request for comment on Wednesday. Sandoval said he was unaware he needed to turn in the report because he had no financial activity in his campaign account during the first quarter.

State law only requires candidates form campaign committees if they receive contributions or make expenditures of at least $1,300. But all candidate committees, once formed, must file campaign finance reports until terminated, even if it's a "no activity" report. Sandoval formed a candidate committee for his county supervisor bid on Feb. 28, per county records.

"From a responsibility perspective, the scope of work on the county Board of Supervisors ... this is important for me to make sure that we're holding others accountable and we are fulfilling those requirements as well," Sandoval said.

Both candidates also have a history of erring in campaign finance rules. Heap has repeatedly failed to list contributions from political action committees on his legislative campaign finance reports, according to records from the Arizona Secretary of State's Office.

Heap launched his run for county recorder on Feb. 28. That same day, he turned in a campaign finance report summarizing his campaign account activities in 2023.

The report came 43 days past the deadline and failed to list $2,550 in political campaign contributions from the Arizona Association of Realtors, electric utility Arizona Public Service and other organizations.

Records received by The Arizona Republic show Tony Cani, a Democratic campaign strategist, filed a complaint over the omissions with the Secretary of State's Office on Feb. 28. On March 1, the office acknowledged receipt of the complaint and said it would review the report.

JP Martin, a spokesperson for the Secretary of State's Office, said the allegations in the complaint "appear to be accurate." Heap had until April 4 to respond to the allegations and didn't, so Martin said the case will now be referred to the Arizona Attorney General's Office for "potential enforcement action."

Heap in a March tweet indicated he didn't report the contributions because he "did not cash or deposit into my campaign. I have the voided checks in my file and have notified the lobbyists to update their records."

Previous campaign finance reports filed in 2022, when Heap was running for his current state lawmaker seat, omitted nearly $3,000 in campaign contributions from a variety of political action committees.

Campaign finance records from those committees reflect contributions to Heap that are not included in his own reports.

Heap did disclose one campaign contribution from the Arizona Free Enterprise Club for $2,500. But even that number may not be correct — the Arizona Free Enterprise Club listed the contribution as just $2,000 on its own campaign finance report.

Heap has yet to hand in a report for his legislative campaign fund that was due on Monday, per the Arizona Secretary of State's Office campaign finance portal.

Sandoval has also filed past reports for his school board campaign fund late, county records show. Most recently, he handed in an end-of-year report due Jan. 16, 2024 on Feb. 1, 2024. That report also listed no financial activity.

He has yet to hand in a report for that campaign fund that was due Monday, according to county records.

Why does it matter?

Campaign finance reports are the only reliable way the public can track who is donating money to candidates and how they are spending their cash. They are due a few times per year and candidates are legally required to submit full, accurate reports on deadline.

Campaign finance laws are complicated and sometimes not well-understood by candidates. But misleading campaign finance reports rob the public of vital information about a candidate’s connections and can result in a perjury charge. Heap and Sandoval could also rack up big fines if they consistently file their reports days — or months — behind schedule. State law says late fees accrue at a rate of $10 per day per report for the first 15 days, then $25 per day.

In Maricopa County, campaign finance reporting is overseen by the Board of Supervisors through its Elections Department. Sandoval is running to serve on that body.

Until recently, campaign finance reports were handled by the Recorder's Office. The county's campaign finance portal is still hosted on the recorder's website. That's the position Heap hopes to win.

The change is part of a new election operations agreement between county supervisors and Richer. The Recorder's Office is still responsible for recording public documents, producing public records and other matters of public transparency.

Recorder's Office spokesperson Sierra Ciaramella said the current agreement doesn't mean roles couldn't shift or revert back in the future.

What does Heap's late campaign finance report say?

The report Heap submitted on Tuesday shows he's raised about $51,400 for his recorder's race so far this election cycle.

Most of those funds — about $30,000 — came from out-of-state donors. Heap's spent a little under $600 of the total, leaving him with a current balance of roughly $50,800.

Heap has raised more than Hiatt or Stringham, who reported fundraising totals for the cycle of about $2,800 and $43,000, respectively. Hiatt currently has a little less than $1,400 unspent in his campaign account, while Stringham reported a balance of nearly $17,000.

But all the candidates are so far eclipsed in fundraising by Richer, the incumbent. So far, he has received $269,300 in the cycle and has spent almost $56,000. He started the cycle with about $25,000 in the bank and now has a balance of more than $238,000.

That's almost as much as Richer raised in total last time he was running for his seat. He received about $300,000 throughout the entire 2020 election cycle — about $353,000 in 2024 dollars. His opponent, Democrat Adrian Fontes, raised roughly $375,000, or $441,000 when adjusted for inflation.

Sasha Hupka covers county government and election administration for The Arizona Republic. Do you have a tip to share on elections or voting? Reach her at sasha.hupka@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @SashaHupka. Follow her on Instagram or Threads: @sashahupkasnaps.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: These Maricopa County candidates filed late campaign finance reports