Lawsuit claims Glendale mayoral candidate gathered phony signatures to make ballot

The Glendale Republican who led the effort to censure the late Sen. John McCain for being too liberal is now looking to disqualify Jamie Aldama from running in the city’s mayoral race.

Timothy Schwartz, the Arizona GOP’s Legislative District 26 chairperson, is taking Aldama to court over accusations that the candidate gathered phony signatures to get on the July 30 primary election ballot.

In the complaint filed with the Maricopa County Superior Court on Monday, Schwartz alleges that at least 670 of the signatures Aldama’s campaign collected to qualify for the race were either forged, duplicated or represented non-registered individuals.

Schwartz also claims that seven individuals who circulated Aldama’s petition for signatures “systemically forged and falsified” several names.

According to the lawsuit, the signatures lacked a “reasonable resemblance” to the voters’ signatures on file with the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office.

“People are saying they didn’t sign these petition sheets,” Timothy La Sota, Schwartz’s attorney, said during a brief phone call Wednesday morning.

Individuals working on behalf of Schwartz’s effort to file the lawsuit contacted, largely in person, the individuals whose signatures were listed in Aldama’s petition, La Sota explained. What they were told, he said, was individuals hadn’t signed the petition.

Aldama did not return a call and text message seeking comment.

Schwartz previously served as the chairperson for Legislative District 30. That’s when he authored the Maricopa County and state Republican Party resolutions censuring McCain.

The move, in part, cost him the post in late 2014, when Gary Hirsch unseated him.

Aldama, a former Glendale council member who resigned this month to run for mayor, is vying to oust incumbent Mayor Jerry Weiers.

To qualify for Glendale’s mayoral race, candidates needed 1,888 valid signatures, the lawsuit notes. Aldama’s petition filed with the Glendale City Clerk’s Office included 2,367 signatures.

At least 670 of them, Schwartz alleges, are invalid, which means Aldama only has 1,697 signatures, making the candidate ineligible for the ballot this summer.

Two trial dates have been set for the case. A virtual pretrial hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. Friday. A virtual trial will occur on April 23.

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Shawn Raymundo covers the West Valley cities of Glendale, Peoria and Surprise. Reach him at sraymundo@gannett.com or follow him on X @ShawnzyTsunami.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Lawsuit alleges Aldama forged signatures for Glendale mayoral ballot