Dem Lawmaker Diego Espinoza Who Just Won Senate Primary Resigns

An Arizona state lawmaker resigned days after winning the Democratic primary for his seat that drew no Republican contender. That means there is no candidate on the ballot for the state Senate seat representing his southwest Phoenix district.

Diego Espinoza edged out fellow Democrat Richard Andrade, 53 percent to 47 percent, to represent District 22 in Arizona’s state Senate.

The New York Post further reported:

Diego Espinoza defeated a fellow House member, Richard Andrade, in the August primary in District 22′s Senate seat. The heavily Democratic district covers parts of Glendale and Phoenix, Avondale and Tolleson and drew no Republicans.

Espinoza said he has accepted a job with the Salt River Project in community and government relations. He owns a restaurant in Tolleson and has served four terms in the House.

The unexpected resignation means a write-in candidacy is the only option for filling the seat through the election.

Andrade said he had heard during the primary that Espinoza was considering taking the job, and said he was “very disappointed” to hear that he had quit.

“He wasn’t true to the voters, knowing that he was going to do this,” he said. “It shows this isn’t the type of leadership we need, where you deceived the voters into thinking you’re working for your community when in reality you’re working for your self-interest.”

If Andrade plans a write-in campaign, he needs to hustle because state election law requires him to register within 40 days of the election. Only registered write-in candidates may be credited with write-in votes. In one state contest a man lost his chance for a runoff election after 19 write-in votes for him were not counted because he did not register as a write-in candidate.

Wendell Fountain challenged incumbent Nancy Hayden for the District 2 seat on the Surprise City Council in the August 2018 primary election. There were 19 write-in votes included in the approximately 6,800 ballots cast in the race, according to an AZ Central report.

If the 19 write-in votes counted, Hayden would have received 49.99 percent of the vote that would have triggered a runoff against Fountain.

Since he did not register as a write-in candidate, the write-in votes weren’t counted. So, Hayden remained above the 50 percent threshold by a hair, winning the election.