Judge mulls allowing expelled lawmaker to run for office

A Maricopa County judge says she’ll decide Friday whether a former Yuma lawmaker expelled from the state House of Representatives over sexual misconduct can run for state Senate.

Don Shooter was the first state lawmaker in the United States to be ousted following the rise of the #MeToo movement. In February, the Arizona House voted 56-3 to expel Shooter after investigators concluded he sexually harassed at least seven women over many years, including fellow lawmakers.

Now, the Republican is fighting for his name to appear on the Arizona primary ballot in August. Shooter filed more than 800 signatures to qualify him to run for state Senate in Legislative District 13, which stretches southwest from Buckeye and Glendale to Yuma. It’s the same district he represented while in the state House.

Another Republican primary candidate, Brent Backus, filed a lawsuit saying Shooter couldn’t run for the seat because he doesn’t live in the district.

Shooter spent an hour on the stand during Thursday’s two-and-a-half-hour hearing on the challenge. He said he still lives at a condo in Yuma and his wife lives at the house in Phoenix, where he would stay during legislative sessions and now for meetings with his attorneys.

“Yuma’s been good to me, it’s my home,” Shooter said. “I have spent a lot of time, effort and money to continue to be part of the Yuma community.”

Backus’ attorney Tim La Sota put forward evidence showing Shooter’s voter registration was switched to the Phoenix address for two weeks. But Shooter denied that he made that change.

La Sota also said the power had been shut off in Shooter’s Yuma’s condo, and that he has spent most of his time in Phoenix since the expulsion.

“We’ve got way too many coincidences adding up that Mr. Shooter does not live in Yuma,” La Sota said. “It doesn’t mean he doesn’t care about the people who live there. I know he cares about them but that doesn’t mean he lives there.”

Meanwhile News 11 went to the home Shooter listed as his Yuma address earlier this week. When we knocked on the door no one answered. We also spoke to several neighbors. All of them said they had never seen Shooter there. Three of the neighbors said they didn’t even know who he was.

News 11 has been reaching out to Shooter since the first allegations of sexual harassment came about, but Shooter hasn’t responded to our phone calls or voicemail messages. We reached out to him again this week regarding this lawsuit and he also didn’t respond.

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Rosa Mroz said she planned to release a decision Friday.

The outcome will determine whether voters of Legislative District 13 can cast a ballot for Shooter, a controversial figure in Arizona politics who has been widely criticized for inappropriate behavior while in office yet remains popular with some voters.

About 30 people, including various lawyers for county and state agencies named in the complaint, gathered in courtroom Thursday for Shooter’s appearance — including one man who posed for a photo with Shooter following the hearing.

The testimony didn’t dive into the details surrounding Shooter’s expulsion, except to establish timelines. La Sota asked Shooter how often his wife, who he is not separated from, spends time in Yuma.

“She hasn’t been down there since I was thrown out, as the saying goes,” Shooter said.

The outcome of the challenge will come down to the state’s constitution. Both parties gave different interpretations of a provision that says candidates have to live in the county they represent for at least a year.

La Sota said that language was drafted when the state had a representation system that was county-based. While that language was never changed when the state switched to a district system, he said the intent is clear.

“What the voters and the framers were getting at was that you have to live in the area you represent and you have to live there for one year,” La Sota said.

Shooter’s attorney Tim Nelson argued that even if the court found Shooter lived in Maricopa County for two weeks when the voter registration was changed, he lived in Yuma when he filed to run.

“The voters of LD13 should decide whether Mr. Shooter’s qualified to represent them,” he said.

Other candidates seeking the Senate seat in the district are Republican incumbent Sen. Sine Kerr, a dairy farmer who was appointed to fill the seat, Republican Royce Jenkins, and Democrat Michelle Harris.

KYMA and the Associated Press contributed to this article.