Arizona Public Integrity Alliance Calls on Arizona Clean Elections Commission to Quickly Investigate Ralph Heap for “obvious violations of Arizona campaign finance law”

 

AZPIA President Montague also calls for Heap to “come clean” or withdraw from race

 

(Phoenix, July 30, 2026) – The Arizona Public Integrity Alliance (AZPIA) today called on the Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission (AZCCEC) to avoid further delays in its investigation of Ralph Heap for campaign finance violations.

 

In a complaint filed with the AZCCEC several weeks ago, a Republican activist accuses Heap, a current state lawmaker and candidate for the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC), of illegally purchasing and installing as many as 1000 campaign signs before he qualified as a clean elections candidate or received any clean elections funding, a clear violation of Arizona elections law. 

 

The same complaint pointed out that Heap failed to disclose who paid for the signs in his campaign finance report, even though the signs themselves included fine print claiming that they were paid for by his campaign, Ralph Heap for Reliable, Affordable Energy.

 

Heap also refused to sign a legally required sworn statement affirming that his campaign finance reports are accurate, raising suspicions that Heap himself knows these allegations are accurate.

 

“Ralph Heap lied to Arizona voters. He claimed that his clean elections campaign paid for his signs, but he didn’t have any clean elections money. He filed a campaign finance report, but didn’t disclose all his sign purchases. He claims to stand for election integrity, but his apparent fraud is making a mockery of Arizona’s clean election system. Right now there are hundreds of Heap signs on Arizona streets, making a mockery of Arizona’s clean elections system unless the AZCCEC takes quick and decisive action.”

 

In addition to concern for obvious violations of the law, Montague expressed alarm that, absent a rapid decision by the AZCCEC, voters in November could be faced with voting for a candidate whose narrow victory in the Republican Primary was directly attributable to an obvious and illegal violation of state campaign finance law. 

 

“Ralph Heap defeated his opponent by less than 2% of the vote. There is no doubt in my mind that this outcome could have been different if not for Heap’s illegal signs. Accordingly, I call upon the AZCCEC to conclude its investigation on this case in the next two weeks, before ballots are printed, to preserve the integrity of the clean elections system and ensure that voters can choose a candidate who did not violate the law.

 

“What’s at stake here is nothing less than the relevance of Arizona’s clean elections system,” declared AZPIA President Tyler Montague. “If the allegations against Heap are proven true and he is allowed to remain on the ballot, every candidate and special interest group will know that they can manipulate clean elections at will.

 

“On the other hand, if the AZCCEC makes a decision before ballots are printed, those same special interest groups will know they can no longer game the system and win elections. The AZCCEC has to take a stand.”

 

Montague also called upon Ralph Heap to do the right thing and disclose who paid for his campaign signs, or withdraw from the race, pointing out that the violations Heap is accused of could result in fines of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

 

“If Ralph Heap is still on the ballot in November, the special interests will win and the voters will lose.” 

 

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