Former city councilman Leon Potter, who resigned in March to run for mayor, will not be on the ballot after all. Potter failed to garner the 209 nominating signatures of Maricopa voters required to qualify as a candidate.
Potter was scrambling to obtain the signatures of registered voters and make it to City Hall to file before it closed at 6 p.m. When informed a few minutes after 5 p.m. that the deadline to file was 5 p.m., Potter responded, “I missed it then.”
But Potter’s fight is not over. He pledged to continue his quest for mayor as a write-in candidate.
“I can still put in for write-in candidate and move forward on the recall effort,” he said, referring to his goal of recalling Councilman Bridger Kimball for a 2012 DUI arrest.
“I’m still going to go as far as I can. The main thing is to ask the questions of the mayor on accountability with the DUI situation,” said Potter, who has been critical of Mayor Christian Price’s handling of the Kimball case.
“As a citizen, I’m going to keep it front and center … (Price must) be accountable to it and each other and the public. So, yeah, I’m still going forward,” Potter said.
“I understand it’s more challenging,” Potter said of running as a write-in candidate versus having his name on the ballot. “Anything is possible.”
When asked if he regrets resigning from his seat on the city council, he said “No, because the reason is still the same. … The reason I resigned hasn’t changed. It was to keep the mayor accountable.”
“I truly believe it was my purpose, part of (God’s) plan,” he added.
“I’m not going anywhere. I’m still a citizen involved in the city; I love Maricopa more than I ever have.”
Price is relieved to not have an opponent in his bid for reelection. “It just allows me to keep working as hard as I want to be working (as mayor) during this campaign time, and that’s what I’m going to do.”
“I’m excited to have the opportunity to continue to do my best to move the city forward,” he said.
![A blue square highlights the area of the proposed affordable housing development and "Restaurant Row" sitting south of city hall and the Maricopa Police Department. Preliminary architectural drawings were not yet available. [City of Maricopa]](https://www.inmaricopa.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/041724-affordable-housing-project-restaurant-row-218x150.jpg "Affordable apartments planned near ‘Restaurant Row’")
![City Manager Ben Bitter speaks during a Chamber of Commerce event at Global Water Resources on April 11, 2024. Bitter discussed the current state of economic development in Maricopa, as well as hinting at lowering property tax rates again. [Monica D. Spencer]](https://www.inmaricopa.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/spencer-041124-ben-bitter-chamber-property-taxes-web-218x150.jpg "City looks to lower property taxes again")
![A blue square highlights the area of the proposed affordable housing development and "Restaurant Row" sitting south of city hall and the Maricopa Police Department. Preliminary architectural drawings were not yet available. [City of Maricopa]](https://www.inmaricopa.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/041724-affordable-housing-project-restaurant-row-100x70.jpg "Affordable apartments planned near ‘Restaurant Row’")
