Justin Heap doesn't always vote and wasn't always a Republican
Looking into the voting records for the state lawmaker running for Maricopa County Recorder.
Arizona State Rep. Justin Heap is running for Maricopa County Recorder and trying to unseat Stephen Richer who defended the county’s elections ever since he won the seat in 2020 much to the chagrin of the Donald Trump wing of the GOP, including Heap’s biggest backers.
Heap’s voting history has come under scrutiny as of late and after requesting his voter information from both Maricopa and Navajo counties, it verifies what was suspected: Heap was not always a Republican.
Additionally, records show, Heap did not vote in eight of the previous 11 primary elections dating back to 2002.
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Here is a detailed look into his voter registration across multiple Arizona counties as well as his voting history:
Voting History/Registration:
2002 (first registered to vote as a Republican while a student)
Primary Election: Voted
General Election: Voted
2004
Primary Election: Did not vote
General Election: Voted
2006
Primary Election: Did not vote
General Election: Voted
2008
Presidential Preference Election: Voted (REP)
Primary Election: Did not vote
General Election: Voted
2010
Primary Election: Voted
General Election: Voted
2012
Presidential Preference Election: Voted (REP)
Primary Election: Did not vote
General Election: Did not vote (moved to Navajo County)
2013
Jurisdictional: Voted (REP)
2014
Primary Election: Did not vote
General Election: Did not vote
2016
Presidential Preference Election: Did not vote
Primary Election: Did not vote
General Election: Voted
2017 (registered as Politically Non Disclosed – PND and moved back to Maricopa County on June 30, 2017)
Jurisdictional Election: Did not vote
2018
Primary Election: Did not vote
General Election: Voted
2019
Jurisdictional Election: Voted
2020 (PND)
Primary Election: Did not vote
General Election: Voted
2021
Jurisdictional Election: Did not vote
2022 (Registered as a Republican and ran for office in LD10)
Primary Election: Voted
General Election: Voted
2023
Jurisdictional Election: Voted
2024
Presidential Preference Election: Voted
Primary Election: TBD
General Election: TBD
Heap voted 18 times in the past 31 elections in which he was registered and eligible to vote. That’s a 58% voting rate.
Compare that to his opponent in incumbent Stephen Richer whose voter file dates back to 2017 and shows he has voted in 11 out of 11 elections in which he was registered and eligible to vote. Richer was always registered as a Republican since his Maricopa County voter registration began in 2017, according to records from his office. That’s a 100% voting rate for Richer.
Heap has faced criticism from fellow Republicans over whether he has supported Trump, particularly since he has stated that he was not a Trump supporter when the former president first campaigned in 2016.
Heap claimed he supported Ted Cruz in the 2016 presidential preference election, but that also was not true given the public records which show he skipped the 2016 PPE and also the summer primary election. He only voted once in 2016 in the general election.
Worth noting: Heap previously sponsored legislation that would get rid of voting by mail in Arizona except for military and overseas voters or voters temporarily living outside of the state.
Heap not only voted by mail1 multiple times, but signed up for the state’s Permanent Early Voting List meaning he automatically received his ballot through the mail for at least the 2022 election cycle –– the first one where he appeared on the ballot.
It’s unclear if he sent his ballot back through the mail or dropped it off, but his file specifically notes it was received via USPS and the date where it was verified by the county.