The Yavapai County Democratic Party sent out an email blast at 12:23 p.m. claiming there are no write-in candidates on the Democratic ballot.
That is false. There are two official Democratic candidates, Bo “Heir Archy” Garcia running as a Democrat for U.S. Senate, Gilbert Carrillo running as a Democrat for Arizona State Senate in Legislative District 1. Additionally, there are three write-in candidates for local office, Jesse Dowling running for Cottonwood City Council, Michael Werner running for Sedona mayor and Edwin “Ed” Larrieu running for Sedona City Council.
Local council elections are officially nonpartisan, but whether voters have a Republican, Democratic or Libertarian ballot, they can write in these names on their partisan ballot.
There are two Republicans and one Libertarian official write-ins, but they do no appear on the Democratic ballot.
The Yavapai County Democratic Party email erroneously stated, “There are several offices that are listed on the Democratic ballot with no candidate listed. This is because there are no Democratic candidates running for these offices.” The statement is false.
“There is no official write-in candidate list for these offices,” which is false. There are five.
“It is best not to write-in candidates in these slots. Your write-in will not appear on the November General Election ballot. Furthermore, unofficial write-ins require an extra step in the ballot authentication process at the Yavapai Election Center,” the email read. “So please vote your selections on the ballot for candidates designated.”
The eight candidates who are listed as official write-ins have all gone through these steps to appear on the ballot as official write-ins, which is why they are listed as “Official Write-In” on the county election website.
“If you have questions about your ballot or did not receive your early ballot yet please contact: the Yavapai County Recorders office at 928-771-3250,” the email concluded.
The list of candidates is clearly identified on the Yavapai County Elections Department website under the headline “Official Write-In Candidates.”
When contacted about the missing candidates and the misleading email, Yavapai County Democratic Party Communications Director Lesley Aine Mckeown wrote, “Sorry that was not my intent. If there are official write in candidates please forward to me. Thank you, Lesley.”
After receiving the Yavapai County Democratic Party, Mckeown wrote: “Thank you fo[r] this information, I will add this information to an amended email shortly. Thank you, Lesley,” McKeown write “I am in the process of updating my information. But I am only concerned with Democratic candidates.Thank you for your help.”
At 12:54 p.m., Mckeown posted a follow-up, but still omitted the three candidates for local office.
