PHOENIX — A former Arizona legislator who was expelled for sexual misconduct says he’s willing to serve at the statehouse again if a small group of Republicans can gather enough petition signatures for him to qualify for the ballot.
The Arizona Capitol Times reports that former state Rep. Don Shooter said earlier this month that he wouldn’t run for public office again. But Shooter has since said he’d be willing to serve again, but only if a small group of supporters gathers his petition signatures.
Shooter was the first state lawmaker in the United States to be expelled for sexual misconduct since the #MeToo movement began.
A state House investigation found Shooter sexually harassed colleagues and lobbyists. Shooter has filed a notice of claim — a precursor to a lawsuit — against the House speaker and Gov. Doug Ducey’s chief of staff, seeking $1.3 million over his exit from the Legislature.
Shooter wouldn’t say how many signatures he already gathered prior to his expulsion or speculate on the odds he’ll gather the signatures necessary to qualify for the primary.
“I don’t know, but we’re going to find out,” he said. “Then we’ll find out if the voters really care about the stuff that’s happened or if they care about having an effective Legislature.”
A candidate would be well-served to submit at least 700 signatures to make up for invalid ones; 474 are needed to qualify for the ballot.
