Yuma judicial race gains attention

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA) - The Yuma County Superior Court Division 5 race is gaining a lot of attention after a letter was recently posted to social media.

In the letter, candidate John LeSueur said the Political Action Committee, State + Local Election Alliance, funded $50,000 in favor of his opponent, Jorge Lozano, for a digital advertisement on social media.

This comes from an October 15 filing with Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes.

While it is not illegal, LeSueur, in the letter, said it's unprecedented, and said an out-of-state donation should not influence the race.

Both candidates talked about the matter.

"We see Political Action Committees, and independent expenditure show up in partisan races. That's just the run of the mill these days. But what is unusual and what is unprecedented is to weigh in on a local county judicial race," LeSueur, who is also the Assistant City Attorney for the City of Yuma, expressed.

"Well I'm not going to complain if there's a separate entity out there looking into this race. One of the things that you have to understand is I've been living here in Yuma County for close to 50 years," Lozano explained.

Both candidates also said it's up to the voters on who they want to elect, but to also do some research prior to casting their votes.

The race is to replace Judge Roger Nelson.