Nearly all candidate challenges are resolved, setting the 2024 ballot

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Two weeks after the deadline to file court challenges to candidate petitions to get on the July primary ballot, nearly all of the cases have been resolved — either because the cases have been dismissed or the challenged candidate has dropped out of the race. 

And although court sanctions for the people who file petition challenges and their attorneys are exceedingly rare, one Arizona lawyer and his client were ordered to pay thousands in attorney fees for bringing a “frivolous” petition challenge case. 

To qualify for the Arizona ballot, candidates must collect a certain number of nomination petition signatures from registered voters they hope to represent. But the candidates’ political opponents can challenge those petitions and the signatures on them in court. If enough of the signatures are found to be invalid, or the candidate is found otherwise ineligible for the ballot, the candidate will be disqualified. 

Shelby Busch, head of the far-right election denier group We the People Az Alliance, and the Scottsdale divorce attorney representing her, Bryan Blehm, were both hit with sanctions last week for bringing a “groundless” challenge against Kelli Butler, a Democratic candidate for state House of Representative in Legislative District 4. 

Blehm, one of two attorneys who represented Kari Lake in her failed challenges to the results of the 2022 race for Arizona governor, is no stranger to court sanctions. Blehm was sanctioned by the Arizona Supreme Court last year for saying it was an “undisputed fact” that more than 35,000 ballots were illegally inserted into batches of legal ballots in Maricopa County in 2022, when he provided no evidence to back that up. 

Blehm wrote in the challenge to Butler’s candidacy that the Arizona Constitution requires legislative candidates to live in the district they seek to represent for at least a year before running for office, and that Butler had not done so. But the state constitution contains no such requirement, and when Butler pointed that out to Blehm and asked him to drop the challenge, he did — but only after a delay during which Butler had to continue to pay her attorney to fight the case. 

Andy Gaona, her attorney, pointed out in an April 16 court filing that candidates for the state legislature are only required to live in the county of their district for one year prior to their election. 

“This whole case is built on a lie,” Gaona wrote. 

He also asked the court to refer Blehm to the State Bar for disciplinary action. 

“The voluntary dismissal was not filed within a reasonable time after Busch/Blehm knew or reasonably should have known the claim or defense was without substantial justification,” Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Danielle Viola wrote in her order for sanctions on April 23.

Butler also asked for additional sanctions, claiming that Blehm and Busch brought the case “for the sole purpose of delay or harassment,” but the judge denied the request saying Butler did not provide enough evidence. 

Butler asked for a total of $9,797 in attorney’s fees, and the court ordered Busch and Blehm to pay $4,500 in those fees, as well as almost $300 in additional costs. 

Busch filed three candidate petition challenges this year alongside Blehm. Two of them, Butler’s and one against Jesus David Mendoza, a Republican running for Congressional District 3 in the U.S. House, were dismissed. 

The candidate in the third case, Nathan Gage Madden, a Libertarian running for Legislative District 25 in the state House, withdrew his candidacy. 

Blehm and Busch were far from the only petition challengers whose cases were swiftly dismissed. 

Four cases brought by challengers represented by Phoenix law firm Snell and Wilmer were dismissed, after the firm used a new petition review software that labeled a large number of valid signatures as “bad,” the Arizona Capitol Times reported. 

The three state and national candidate cases that Snell and Wilmer voluntarily dismissed were against Marlene Galán-Woods, a Democrat running for Congressional District 1, Ralph Heap, a Republican running for Legislative District 10 in the state House, and Josh Barnett, a Republican running for Legislative District 2 in the state Senate. 

Another case brought by Snell and Wilmer, against Republican Neil DeSanti, who was hoping to secure the District 2 seat in the state House of Representatives, alleged the candidate’s history of felony convictions made him ineligible to run for office. DeSanti withdrew from the race.

Republican incumbent Sen. Wendy Rogers’ challenge to fellow Republican and primary opponent David Cook is one of the few cases still ongoing. A trial court shot it down, but Rogers has appealed. 

The judge in the case ruled on April 24 that Rogers had provided no proof of her allegations that one of Cook’s petition circulators had engaged in signature fraud. Rogers quickly filed a notice of appeal. 

The status of the remaining petition challenges for candidates running for positions in the Arizona Legislature and U.S. Congress, according to the Secretary of State’s Office and online court records: 

• Michael Eaton, a Libertarian running for District 9 in the state House of Representatives: Candidate dropped out/case dismissed 

• Austin Smith, a Republican incumbent running for Legislative District 29 in the State House: Candidate dropped out/case dismissed 

• Shante Saulsberry, a Democrat running for Legislative District 13 in the state House: Candidate dropped out/case dismissed 

• Michael D. Butts, a Democrat running for Legislative District 11 in the state House: Dismissed and appealed 

• Izaak Ruiz, a Democrat running for Legislative District 11 in the state House: Case dismissed

• Melody Hernandez: a Democrat running for Legislative District 8 in the state Senate: Candidate dropped out/case dismissed 

• Matt Welch, a Democrat running for Legislative District 18 in the state Senate: Case dismissed

• Sonya Willis, a Democrat running for Legislative District 25 in the state Senate: Candidate dropped out/case dismissed 

• Kim George, a Republican running for Congressional District 1 in the U.S. House: Case dismissed and appealed

• Sheila Bilyieu, a Democrat running for Congressional District 8 in the U.S. House: Court found that Bilyieu did not qualify for the ballot 

• Clifford Cast, an libertarian running for Congressional District 6 in the U.S. House: Candidate dropped out/case dismissed 

• Mark Siarto, a Libertarian running for Congressional District 6 in the U.S. House: Candidate dropped out/case dismissed 

• Michelle Martin, a Libertarian running for Congressional District 1 in the U.S. House: Candidate dropped out/case dismissed 

• Arturo Hernandez, a Green Party candidate running for U.S. Senate: Case dismissed and appealed

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