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Noah Mundt will appear on the primary ballot as a candidate for one of Gilbert Town Council's open council member seats.
Judge John Hannah dismissed the amended complaint of Michael Webb on April 26, saying allegations of fraud and forgery were raised too late and that not enough signatures had been or would be invalidated to disqualify Mundt from the ballot.
Mundt said in a text message to the Gilbert Independent that he was "relieved" by the dismissal.
"This legal action unjustly targeted a high school student involved in our signature collection, exploiting them in an attempt to remove me from the ballot," Mundt said. "It's unfortunate that such tactics are being used, especially at a time when our youth face many challenges, including issues related to teen violence."
The court agreed with Mundt, stating the late filing prejudiced the defendant's ability to prepare for the hearing and compromised the process.
The court also ruled even if some signatures were forged, it would not invalidate all the signatures on the petition.
"A lawyer I used to know, used to argue to juries, 'Does one, if there's one bad piece to meat in the chili, do you throw out the entire bowl?'" Hannah said before issuing his ruling. "Well, that's a matter of taste, I guess. But the whole thing is not spoiled."
Hannah heard arguments on Mundt's motion to dismiss and ruled on it at the conclusion of the 50-minute hearing before ever hearing Webb's argument that a teenaged petition circulator had forged some signatures and therefore all of his petitions must be thrown out.
Mundt argued this was a new complaint, filed days after the deadline to challenge petitions as an amendment. Allowing it, his representatives said, would fundamentally change the process for challenging petitions, which must be done a tight deadline to allow ballots to be printed.
It also would prejudice the process against the defendant as it extends the time for a plaintiff to challenge signature and cuts into the time a defendant can mount a proper defense before a ruling must be made.
Webb's original complaint challenged some of Mundt's signature as invalid for things like the person being unregistered or out of district, but the Maricopa County Recorder's Office certified Mundt had enough valid signatures to qualify.
Webb was represented by Tim La Sota, filling in for Jennifer Wright, who represented him at Monday's pretrial hearing but had a conflict Friday. Wright headed former Attorney General Mark Brnovich's election integrity unit and has represented Republican candidates in related legal cases since she separated from the Attorney General's office.
Mundt was represented by Brett Johnson, a partner at Snell and Wilmer in Phoenix.
La Sota, Johnson and Webb could not be reached for comment.
Webb, who was on the campaign team for former mayoral candidate Shane Krauser, challenged three candidates in the election — Mundt, council member candidate Kenny Buckland and mayoral candidate Natalie DiBernardo, but withdrew his challenges to Buckland and DiBernardo on April 22.
Krauser withdrew from the race April 24, leaving DiBernardo and Vice Mayor Scott Anderson running for the mayor's seat.
Mundt and Buckland are joined by Aaron Accurso and Monte Lyons in running for the two open seats on council.
"This victory is ours to share," Mundt said as he thanked friends and supporters, "and I look forward to continuing our campaign focused on the important issues facing our community."
We would like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments, pro or con, on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org. Tom Blodgett can be reached by email at tblodgett@iniusa.org or follow him @sp_blodgett on X.
Raised in Arizona, Tom Blodgett has spent more than 35 years in journalism in Arizona and joined Independent Newsmedia in July 2022 to launch the Gilbert edition. He is a graduate of Arizona State University, where he served as an instructional professional in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication from 2005-19 and remains editorial adviser to The State Press, the university's independent student media outlet.
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