By Howard Fischer
Mail | Twitter: @azcapmedia

PHOENIX — Rebuffed in his bid to become secretary of state, Mark Finchem now wants to go back to the Legislature.

But not from the Pima County district that first elected him in 2014.

Finchem on Wednesday filed a “statement of interest” to run for the state Senate for LD 1. That is paperwork required before a candidate can begin to collect signatures on nominating petitions.

Only thing is, the district which stretches from Black Canyon City and Wickenburg through Prescott all the way to Interstate 40 is currently represented by Ken Bennett. And the Prescott Republican already has filed his own statement of interest.

What also is unclear is whether Finchem actually lives in the district.

Finchem, in separate filings with the Secretary of State's Office, lists his address on Shiloh Road in Prescott. Yet Finchem, who represented Oro Valley until the end of last year, made a filing in December with the Arizona Corporation Commission that listed an address in Surprise -- in LD 29.

In fact, he requested a packet on June 30 from Maricopa County elections officials to run for county recorder.

But if Finchem intends to run in LD 1 he would be required to show an address within the district on nominating petitions when they are circulated.

Finchem did not return repeated messages.

The filing comes even as Finchem continues his court challenges to his 2022 loss by more than 120,000 votes to Democrat Adrian Fontes for secretary of state.

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Melissa Julian ordered Finchem to pay $40,565 in legal fees and costs to Fontes. And the judge imposed a separate $7,434 penalty against Daniel McCauley, his attorney, for filing a lawsuit that she previously called “groundless and not brought in good faith.”

His case is now before the state Court of Appeals.

Bennett told Capitol Media Services this is the first he heard of Finchem’s interest in his seat.

“I thought Mark Finchem lived in Oro Valley,” he said. And Bennett said he also had heard of Finchem’s interest in Maricopa County recorder and running against incumbent Republican Stephen Richer who has been accused by supporters of Donald Trump and failed gubernatorial hopeful Kari Lake of rigging the 2022 election.

“But maybe he thinks I’m more of a monster and he needs to move to Yavapai County,” Bennett said.

Finchem’s entry is not the first GOP challenge to Bennett who was reelected to the Senate last year. He has previously served from 2009 to 2015 and was president of the Senate for two of those years.

Steve Zipperman, who lost the GOP primary in 2022 to Bennett, also has declared his candidacy for the seat.

The district is solidly Republican, meaning whoever wins the August 2024 primary is virtually certain to be elected in November.

Finchem was a Republican state representative from Oro Valley, in Pima County, from 2015 to 2023.