Clean Elections Denies Heap Withdrawal as Campaign Funding Stays Frozen

The Citizens Clean Elections Commission voted 4-0 on Aug. 4 to deny a request from Arizona Corporation Commission candidate Ralph Heap to leave the state's public campaign-financing program.

The decision leaves Heap's general-election funding in a procedural bind. He qualified for Clean Elections support on July 20 after collecting the required $5 contributions, but the commission has not released the money. Executive director Tom Collins has said state law bars disbursement until Heap files a sworn statement that his campaign finance reports are complete and accurate. Heap has not filed that affidavit.

Heap is a Republican state representative and orthopedic surgeon who narrowly defeated incumbent commissioner Nick Myers in the July primary. He and incumbent Kevin Thompson are the GOP nominees for the two Corporation Commission seats on the November ballot. Democrats Clara Pratte and Jonathon Hill are the opposing nominees. All five major candidates in the race have pursued Clean Elections financing.

Under the program, participating candidates forgo most PAC, corporate, and large-donor money in exchange for public funds. For Corporation Commission candidates in 2026, that package can total roughly $370,000 across the primary and general. While Heap remains in the program, he cannot raise private dollars of that kind. Without the public check, his most recent filings put cash on hand near $9,500 to $10,000 on roughly $18,000 to $19,000 raised.

Heap's attorney, Timothy La Sota, asked the commission in a July 31 letter to let Heap withdraw. La Sota wrote that Collins had indicated funding this cycle was in doubt and that the campaign could not wait with mail ballots approaching. At the Aug. 4 meeting, La Sota argued that qualification without a disbursed check should not lock Heap in. "If we had qualified, where's our check? Where's our money?" he said.

Commission counsel framed the vote more narrowly: whether Clean Elections rules still allow withdrawal after a candidate has been notified of qualification. Statute allows a participant to leave "at any time," but only before that notice. The commission did not publicly explain its reasoning after returning from executive session. Counsel also said the pending finance complaint should not control the withdrawal question.

Separately, West Valley Republican Lisa Everett filed a complaint alleging Heap's reported sign spending does not match the volume of Heap signs seen around the state. Heap's filings show one Mesa Sign Shop expenditure of about $644 for the statewide race. Everett and other speakers at the meeting urged stronger sanctions. Everett has openly supported Myers and Thompson.

In records obtained by reporters, Collins told La Sota there was "substantial evidence" that Heap's reports "do not reflect expenditures for signs paid for by the campaign, nor identify the source of the funds for those signs," and that Heap might have difficulty complying with the affidavit requirement. No finding of a violation has been issued. Penalties, if any, would follow the commission's normal adjudication process and can include fines or, in some cases under the Clean Elections Act, more severe remedies.

La Sota has described the sign allegation, taking the accusation as stated for argument's sake, as a "garden-variety" campaign dispute in which parts of a campaign can get ahead of themselves. He has denied claims of coordinated sign schemes with other candidates. Heap did not attend the virtual meeting and had not immediately returned a request for comment after the vote.

What is settled for now is the procedural status: Heap remains a Clean Elections participant, the public funds remain undelivered pending the affidavit, private Clean Elections-restricted fundraising remains off limits, and the sign complaint remains unresolved. The November race will test how that funding structure affects a statewide Corporation Commission contest built around public financing.

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