Rebekah L. Sanders

The Arizona Republic

PHOENIX — A judge ruled Tuesday that Cesar Chavez, a former Republican who changed his name from Scott Fistler, will be removed from the Democratic primary ballot in the 7th congressional District because hundreds of his signatures were invalid.

Chavez, who acted as his own attorney in a hearing in which he veered from comical antics to tearful testimony, vowed to appeal the decision to the Arizona Supreme Court.

He asked supporters to "funnel money" to his campaign and find him legal counsel.

The ruling caps a bizarre episode in Arizona politics, one observers have called unprecedented. It attracted international media attention when The Republic revealed the full story behind Chavez, the candidate who chose the name and registered as a Democrat for political gain in the heavily Hispanic left-leaning district.

He had lost two previous elections.

Alejandro Chavez, the civil-rights leader's grandson, alleged in the lawsuit that hundreds of the candidate's signatures were invalid and his legal name-change was intended to defraud voters.

But by the end of the hearing, Jim Barton, the plaintiff's attorney, asked the judge to drop the charge that Chavez changed his name "as part of a coherent scheme."

Judge John Rea also rejected the lawsuit's allegations that Chavez used the wrong size of paper to collect signatures and failed to register as a Democrat before collecting them.

However, Rea did rule that 711 of Chavez's 1,455 signatures, or about 48%, were invalid.

The Maricopa County Elections Office testified that the signers were not eligible to vote in the Aug. 26 primary because they were not registered to vote, did not live in the district or were not Democrats or independents.

The ruling put Chavez's nomination 295 signatures below the 1,039 requirement to make the ballot. The candidate has until June 27 to appeal.