Two members of the Maricopa Republican Party’s Executive Guidance committee, one of whom is an elected party officer, were among those who gathered signatures for LD18 recall candidate Olivia Cortes.

Critics of Senate President Russell Pearce have labeled Olivia Cortes a "stealth" candidate who is aiming to divide his opposition. This month, media reports quoted a circulator Cortes supposedly hired as admitting that she is running to dilute the vote against Pearce, the state's foremost immigration hawk.

And even though she has denied that the Pearce camp had asked her to run, an early interview with the candidate reveals she planned to court Hispanic voters in the upcoming Mesa recall election.

A Mesa Republican whom many believe is a sham candidate designed to divide the opposition against Russell Pearce has turned in signatures to qualify for the November special recall election targeting the Senate president.

The state’s highest court will hear a challenge to the recall election targeting Senate President Russell Pearce.

The group fighting the recall election of Senate President Russell Pearce will remove signs it posted in Mesa that attack one of the organizers of the recall drive.

Jerry Lewis, the Mesa Republican and perceived frontrunner in the recall election of Senate President Russell Pearce, says the fake Twitter account impersonating him sheds light on the dirty tactics he expects as the race moves forward.

A judge today denied efforts by allies of Senate President Russell Pearce to halt the Nov. 8 recall election targeting the Mesa Republican.

Many Pearce opponents believe that Olivia Cortes, the other Mormon Republican who has entered the LD18 recall race, is little more than a plant from the Pearce camp whose sole purpose in the contest will be to draw anti-Pearce votes away from Jerry Lewis.

For almost three weeks, a Twitter account posing as Jerry Lewis, the Mesa Republican running against Senate President Russell Pearce in an upcoming recall election, has posted tweets promoting gay pornography and illegal immigration, aligning Lewis with extreme liberal causes and calling out politicians who are backing Lewis.

A spokesman for the man that many expect will provide Senate President Russell Pearce with the stiffest competition in November’s recall election said the campaign has already collected signatures from enough voters to get Jerry Lewis’ name on the ballot.