A Republican candidate for state school superintendent won't be thrown off the ballot even though he broke state campaign laws.
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Robert Oberbillig rejected arguments by John Huppenthal that he was legally entitled to start gathering signatures on nominating petitions last year, when he had formed only an exploratory committee. Oberbillig said that is contrary to state law which requires establishment of a full-blown campaign committee to circulate petitions.
But the judge rejected a request by Rhonda Barnes, an attorney for Democratic interests, to disallow any of the signatures that Huppenthal had gathered before he formed that exploratory committee on Jan. 11. That would have ended his campaign, as all of his more than 11,000 signatures were collected before that date.
Oberbillig said the only penalty under state law for illegally collecting signatures on nominating petitions is a fine, which can be up to $1,000. The judge said if legislators had wanted to void the petitions, they should have written the law that way.
Huppenthal, a state senator who represents Chandler, was legally precluded from forming a campaign committee before this past January.
That is because the Arizona Constitution bars elected officials from running for any other office before the last year of their terms. And Huppenthal's latest two-year term does not end until the second week of next January.
Sen. Jack Harper, R-Surprise, who chairs the Senate Government Committee, said the law needs clarification.
He said the same thing happened in his 2004 campaign when a foe in the Republican primary had gathered signatures while having only an exploratory committee. But a judge at that time refused to bar her from running for office.
Harper said he subsequently crafted legislation to spell out that signatures cannot be collected under an exploratory committee. The proposal, however, never became law.
The ruling means Huppenthal remains in the primary against Margaret Dugan and Beth Price. Whoever remains will run against the survivor of the Democratic race between Penny Kotterman and Jason williams.
DataMan posted at 9:34 pm on Fri, Jun 18, 2010.
This guy is a dirt pile. Be it the illegal gathering of signatures, or his attack on a 78 year old lady, and even the damage he caused to a school by hanging banners for an election event! Or his robo calls where AM/PM confused him and he called people in the middle of the night.
Super of schools, and he doesn't even have his own kids in public schools.
Dang. This clown is the prime example of whats wrong with people elected in AZ. The Judge must have been paid off, or his rear end would be off the ballot.
Bingo6 posted at 10:25 pm on Fri, Jun 18, 2010.
Yeah and if Old Hup was a Democrat. he would have been deported.
This is just anpther examplr of AZ GOBP politics. protecting its own.
ChandlerGuy posted at 11:31 pm on Fri, Jun 18, 2010.
Huppenthal doesn't even know the title of the office he is running for. He is running for Superintendent of Public Instruction. His signs say School Superintendent.
soricobob posted at 7:05 am on Sat, Jun 19, 2010.
There are always different reasons to vote for or against a candidate...this one is easy.
vive la USA posted at 8:40 am on Sat, Jun 19, 2010.
A great role model for future generations? Hey Huppin, It's like you cheated. You started the race before the others had a chance to get ready. Please do not finish the race. You will do us all a favor!
Irons1 posted at 10:01 am on Sat, Jun 19, 2010.
Another fine example of the GOP protecting their own. Huppenthal is such slime that he shouldn't be allowed to run for dogcatcher, let alone Superintendent of Public Instruction. He should have been thrown off the ballot, but instead he cheats but gets a slap on the wrist. Arizona politics at it's finest
soricobob posted at 9:46 am on Sun, Jun 20, 2010.
I hope, when he fills out a grant application, or a reimbursement, that the parties are as lenient.