Key Points:

• Fictional character New Amato enters Arizona governor’s race

• Amato takes aim at real politicians like Gov. Katie Hobbs and Congressman Andy Biggs

• Votes for Amato likely won’t count, but real third-party candidates could sway results

In case anyone was worried about a lack of candidates in Arizona’s gubernatorial race, a “New” satirical contender has joined the pack with an offbeat platform and the backing of a “New” party.

New Amato, a businessman based in Lake Havasu City, will join Republican Congressmen Andy Biggs, David Schweikert and No Labels Party candidate Hugh Lytle in challenging Gov. Katie Hobbs this November. Amato has three simple priorities: ending taxes for families and companies, bringing the Seven Wonders of the World to Arizona and shutting down the state’s last Sizzler steakhouse. 

“I’ve just grown to love it here. I love the people, I love the climate, and the general energy here,” Amato told the Arizona Capitol Times. “I looked at sort of the problems that the state has been having and realized that some of the great qualities of Lake Havasu that I see every day, we could expand on a statewide level and I’d want to be at the center of that, making that happen.”

Amato said his day one goal will be shutting down the final Sizzler in Flagstaff. He also envisions bringing the Eiffel Tower to Phoenix and the Great Wall of China to the border between Arizona and Mexico. While Biggs supports eliminating the state’s income tax, Amato described it as a “half measure,” saying he wants to get rid of all taxes. 

“The two steps we’re going to do as soon as I become governor would be to eliminate nearly all regulations, and then eliminate all taxes on businesses and homes, families, and so that’s going to spur an economic explosion within the state,” he said. 

Amato is, of course, not a real candidate, which one might realize after he urges voters to cast their ballot for him in October. He is the fictional creation of comedian Tim Heidecker, known widely for producing the Adult Swim comedy sketch series Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!, who launched the Amato campaign with a stuttering YouTube video and a typo-laden website on May 27.

Heidecker’s character is part of a web series called “On Cinema,” hosted on the comedian’s own streaming platform, HEI Network.

Amato might be fictional, but that did not stop him from taking shots at his opponents — two real Arizona politicians. In his campaign launch video, Amato calls Hobbs “a joke” before accusing her of being “competent, inpo- incompetent and corrupt.”

In an interview with the Arizona Capitol Times on May 29, Amato went even further by comparing Hobbs and Biggs to barnyard animals while stuttering over or even completely butchering their names. 

“I like to say, you’ve got Pigs versus Hogs,” Amato said. “In other words, Andy Piggs versus Deborah-Katie Hobbs, Katie Hoggs, I say. So you have basically the same beast, the same animal, pigs and hogs are very similar, and I am a different breed.”

Hobbs has frequently told reporters that she would welcome any candidate into the race to challenge her in November, though it’s likely that Amato was not the kind of candidate she had in mind. 

In his campaign launch video, Amato notes he supports the policies of the “current Republican government candidate Andy Piggs and the woman that’s running,” though it’s unclear whether he’s referring to withdrawn Republican candidate Karrin Taylor Robson or the governor. Nevertheless, Amato argues neither have what it takes to “turn things around and take this state to the next level.” 

The campaign video makes no mention of Schweikert, Biggs’ current primary opponent. That exclusion, intentional or otherwise, sums up the impact many Arizona politicos predict Schweikert will have on the governor’s race this year. 

Amato also plans to create his own party, the “New Party,” which might inspire a feeling of déjà vu in anyone who has been following the Arizona Independent Party saga. 

“I think it’s time for a new voice, a new party, the New Party,” Amato said in his campaign video. “As head of the New Party, I will be running for governor as a third party candidate under the New Party banner.”

Amato seemed uninterested in discussing other third party candidates in the race, like Lytle, who will appear on the No Labels Party ballot line following a lengthy court case over the party’s name earlier this spring. He told the Arizona Capitol Times that he’s been too focused on his own write-in campaign. 

In all seriousness, third party candidates could play an outsized role in this year’s gubernatorial contest, a fact that both major party candidates acknowledge. In a memo sent to reporters, Hobbs’ campaign manager Nicole DeMont wrote that the campaign is not resting on its laurels despite polling showing the governor slightly ahead of both Republican contenders.

“While most polling tests Hobbs versus Biggs, they will be joined on the November ballot by No Labels and Green Party candidates,” DeMont wrote. “Arizona statewide races often come down to just a few hundred or few thousand votes, so even a small percentage of votes for a third party cannot be ignored and injects a degree of uncertainty into polling.”

An early May survey conducted by Noble Predictive Insights shows third party candidates could pull up to 6 or 7% of the vote from the Republican and Democratic candidates. Lytle supporters make up most of those numbers, with only around 1% of voters saying they would vote for another third party candidate. 

Political consultants agree that third party candidates are more likely to pull votes from a Democratic candidate like Hobbs, given that Republicans still have a slight voter registration advantage over both Democrats and independents in the state. Hobbs’ campaign seems acutely aware of that fact, given that attorneys with ties to the governor aided legal challenges to the candidacies of Lytle and Green Party contender Risa Lombardo. 

Election officials seem to agree that it is unlikely that Amato’s fictional campaign will have a real impact on Arizona’s gubernatorial race. Amato is encouraging voters to write him in on their ballots, but according to the Secretary of State’s Office, those votes can only be counted if Amato is registered as a write-in candidate.

After seeing Amato’s video, Secretary of State Adrian Fontes took to social media to encourage voters seeking accurate information about the elections to visit arizona.vote. 

“I enjoy a good joke as much as the next guy does, but elections in all reality are not a laughing matter,” Fontes said. 

The filing period for write-in candidates who hope to appear on the general election ballot opens June 6 and ends Sept. 4, so it’s unclear whether Amato will make a bid for an official appearance. If he does, it’s likely that any write-in votes would be disqualified considering Amato said he has only lived in “Lake Hasafoo” since January and gubernatorial candidates are required to have been Arizona residents for at least five years.

And, at the end of the day, it’s unlikely that Arizona election officials will be able to count votes cast for a fictional character.