Yentzer booted from ballot in race for Tucson mayor

Zach Yentzer, an Independent candidate running to take over as Tucson’s mayor this year, has ended his campaign after a challenger successfully won a lawsuit that invalidated 1,359 nomination petition signatures that previously qualified Yentzer to be put on the Nov. 7 general election ballot.

Ed Ackerley, the only other Independent candidate running for mayor, challenged Yentzer’s signatures in an April 17 complaint that alleged Yentzer didn’t meet the 2,952 threshold of signatures he needed to be placed on this year’s ballot.

The lawsuit triggered a mandatory signature verification report from the Pima County Recorder’s Office, which found the candidate only had 2,505 signatures after finding 1,359 invalid signatures.

The majority of the reasons the recorder listed for invalidating signatures were for signatories that weren't registered to vote when signing the petition, did not live in city limits and signed more than once.

“I did what any candidate would do who was in my position, who was trying to make it to the ballot and win as many votes as possible,” Ackerley said. “I did it the right way, and I did it legally. And the result was, from our camp’s perspective, a positive thing for us.”

While the Tucson City Clerk's Office serves as a filing officer and makes sure candidate petitions are complete, nominations aren't typically challenged unless someone takes the matter to court for further vetting. 

Yentzer challenged the lawsuit alleging insufficient service of process. The City Clerk’s Office omitted a page of Ackerley’s complaint when serving Yentzer an electronic version of the file. In response to the complaint, Yentzer’s attorney argued that the missing page was “important” and contained “factual allegations, one of four ‘legal objections’ that formed the basis” of Ackerley’s complaint. He received that missing page three days after the complaint was filed, according to Yentzer’s motion.

Pima County Superior Court Judge Gary Cohen denied Yentzer’s motion to dismiss the case as the legal objection outlined on the missing page was stated on an attached exhibit “with specificity,” Cohen wrote in his April 27 ruling. The judge also said Yentzer’s attorney filed a notice of appearance confirming participation in the case before the objection based on the missing page, which “has exactly the same effect as a proper, timely and valid service of process,” according to legal precedent Cohen cited. 

Yentzer said the ruling is “an opinion document” that “reflects the fact that we came in with a sound case, but I don't think the judge was open to digging into that legality.”

State law says the superior court must issue a ruling on court actions challenging candidate nomination petitions within ten days. Yentzer said the time constraint was a burden to his defense, and his team only had 23 hours to review the county recorder’s report after receiving it on Saturday afternoon, which he said was “just simply not enough time” to “assess or respond to that.”

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Independent candidates for mayor in Tucson typically have a higher threshold of signatures to receive than other political parties, as the minimum number of votes required to get on the ballot is calculated as 3% of the number of city voters registered as “other,” which is currently more than 98,000. The minimum number of signatures for candidates affiliated with a political party is at least 5% of their designated party’s vote in the last general election.

Although he was a registered Republican until 2022, Yentzer said he doesn’t regret running as an Independent, or for mayor instead of a City Council seat. He said the mayor’s position “best fit the execution, the vision that I have for the community.”

Yentzer said Democratic and Republican candidates have “an instant army,” but, “As an independent, you kind of have to build that from scratch. For us to build the movement that we built and the team that we had … we're really proud at a high level of what we built and the effort we put in to turn in as many signatures as we did.”

Yentzer said he’s still processing being kicked off the ballot but is open to other political opportunities in the future. For now, he’s still working as the executive director of Tucson Young Professionals, a coalition of up-and-coming leaders and working professionals throughout the city.

“I ran to serve the community. I knew how hard this would be, and I didn't do it for my ego or ambition. I wanted to make Tucson better,” he said. 

Ackerley, on the other hand, is looking forward to being the only Independent candidate for mayor this year. He said he’s welcomed Yentzer to join his campaign, but the former candidate said he has a lot to think about before making that decision.

“I did it (filed the lawsuit) to clear the path so that I can be on the ballot, and obviously get as few contestants against me as possible,” Ackerley said. “It clears the way for me to go head-to-head with the incumbent.”