Mitchell eligible for general election ballot

October 23, 2012

A state appellate court is erasing a trial judge's ruling that Republican legislative nominee Darrin Mitchell can't run in the general election.

From Phoenix, KJZZ's Steve Goldstein has more.

A court of appeals decision says a trial judge shouldn't have considered the lawsuit challenging Mitchell's candidacy because the lawsuit wasn't personally presented to Mitchell or his attorney. The judge had determined Mitchell didn’t live in the house district where he was running for the legislature. State Representative Russ Jones filed the challenge. The Yuma Republican lost to Mitchell and Representative Steve Montenegro in the primary election. Jones argued that Mitchell waived the requirement to be served because he and his attorney appeared in court to oppose Jones' challenge. The court of appeals says that doesn't matter because Mitchell was on record as objecting to the lack of service.