Governing Board Candidate Information

School Governing Board Qualifications

Pursuant to ARS 15-421 (C), a person is eligible to run for a school governing board seat in Arizona when they meet the following qualifications:

The person is a registered voter of this state.
The person has been a resident of the school district for at least one year immediately preceding the day of election.
The person is not subject to registration as a sex offender in this state or in any other jurisdiction.

School governing board members cannot be an employee of the school district or be a spouse of a school district employee, including a person who directly provides certified or classified services to the school district as an employee of a third-party contractor.

Candidate Statement of Interest

Pursuant to ARS 16-311 (H), candidates must file a Statement of Interest form with the Mohave County School Superintendent’s office before collecting signatures on their nomination petitions. Please confirm your voter registration details before submitting your Statement of Interest. Once you have filled out your Statement of Interest, please sign it, scan it, and email it using this form. You may also mail it or walk it into our office.

Once we have received your Candidate Statement of Interest, our office will verify qualification, time/date stamp, scan and emailed it back to you. The time and date stamp will serve as your official start time to collect signatures.

View the current list of candidates who have filed Statements of Interest for 2026.

View the minimum number of signatures required to file as a candidate for 2026. (ARS 16-322 A.12. & B.)

Statement of Organization (Campaign Finance)

If a candidate decides to raise and spend money via a campaign committee, a Political Committee Statement of Organization must be filed with the Mohave County Elections Department once a candidate’s committee has reached a combined total of $1,500 in contributions and expenses (ARS 16-905 and 16-931). This includes the use of the candidate’s own monies.

Candidates can still gather signatures on petitions without filing a Statement of Organization but still need to file a Statement of Interest.

You will need to file your Statement of Organization with the Mohave County Elections Department. You may email them using this form.

Filing Petition Signatures

Candidates shall file election documents (Nomination Petitions and Declaration of Qualification) at the Mohave County School Superintendent’s office located at 700 W. Beale St., Kingman. The candidate filing period for the November 3, 2026 General Election begins on Saturday, June 6, 2026 and closes on Monday, July 6, 2026 at 5:00 PM. Due to the first filing date occurring on a Saturday, our office will begin accepting election documents on Monday, June 8, 2026. Petitions presented before or after the established filing period WILL NOT be accepted (ARS 16-311 (B)).

The following sample petitions are meant for instruction only. Please note the difference between a 4-year term candidate and a 2-year term candidate.

SAMPLE ONLY - Nonpartisan Nomination Petition - SAMPLE ONLY

SAMPLE ONLY - Nonpartisan Nomination Petition 2-Year Candidate - SAMPLE ONLY

(see 2-Year Term Candidates section below for 2-year Nonpartisan Nomination Petition requirements)

Candidates must file the following original documents with our office in order for their name to appear on the ballot. A Candidate Statement of Interest must already be on file with the Mohave County School Superintendent.

Nomination Paper - Declaration of Qualification

Nonpartisan Nomination Petition

2-Year Term Candidates

Candidates for Two (2) Year Terms MUST designate the term expiration date following the name of the office on the petitions prior to gathering signatures, as well as on the nomination papers (ARS 16-314 (D)).

Candidate Withdrawal

School Board candidates who decide to withdraw from a race, must have their name removed from the ballot by submitting a notarized Candidate Withdrawal Form to the Mohave County School Superintendent’s Office. You may email this form, but it must show the notary stamp. Once a candidacy is withdrawn, if the candidate has registered a campaign committee, the committee is required to continue filing campaign finance reports until/unless the committee is terminated. Candidates who withdraw their name from the ballot cannot run as a write-in candidate for the same office.

Write-In Candidates

A write-in candidate must file a Write-In Candidate Nomination Paper with the Mohave County School Superintendent’s Office NO EARLIER THAN June 6, 2026 at 8:00 AM and No LATER THAN 5:00 PM on July 20, 2026 (ARS 16-312 and 16-410).

However, because the first day of filing occurs on a Saturday, our office will actually begin accepting election documents on Monday, June 8, 2026.

You may view the 2026 Write-In Candidate List when it becomes available after 7/21/26.

Candidate 10-Day Challenge Period

Immediately following the candidate filing period, a candidate's filing (qualifications, nomination papers, petitions, etc.) may be challenged with the Mohave County Superior Court. The 10-day challenge period for the 2026 School Governing Board Elections begins on July 7, 2026 and ends on July 20, 2026 at 5:00 PM.

Please Carefully Review (ARS 16-351):
A. Any elector filing any court action challenging the nomination of a candidate as provided for in this chapter shall do so not later than 5:00 p.m. of the tenth day, excluding Saturday, Sunday and other legal holidays, after the last day for filing nomination papers and petitions. The elector shall specify in the action the petition number, line number and basis for the challenge for each signature being challenged. Failure to specify this information shall result in the dismissal of the court action. Within ten days after the filing of the action, the superior court shall hear and render a decision on the matter. The decision is appealable only to the supreme court and notice of appeal shall be filed within five days after the decision of the superior court in the action. The supreme court shall hear and render a decision on the appeal promptly.

Cancellation of School Governing Board Election

If only one or no candidate files qualified nomination papers for a school district governing board member position by 5:00 PM on July 21, 2026, the Mohave County School Superintendent may recommend cancellation of the election to the Mohave County Board of Supervisors.

Under these circumstances, the candidate who has filed in a timely and appropriate manner may be appointed, as if elected, by the Board of Supervisors to fill the school district’s governing board position (ARS 15-424 (E)). If no candidate files and the Board of Supervisors opts to cancel the election, the vacancy shall be filled through the appointment process conducted by the County School Superintendent (ARS 15-424 (E) and 15-302).

If the circumstances described above occur, a Recommended Cancellation Report will be available after the 7/21/26 deadline, following the Board of Supervisors regular meeting where the action to cancel the election took place.

Candidate Statements

Pursuant to ARS 15-421 (H), each candidate whose name has been certified to appear on the election ballot/write-in list may submit the following:

A recent photograph.
A typewritten or electronic statement, not to exceed 500 words.
A disclosure of any relationships by affinity, by consanguinity or by law to the third degree that exist between the candidate and any current governing board members or other candidates for election to the same governing board.

Certified candidates may begin submitting their Candidate Statement, containing the information described above, NO EARLIER THAN Tuesday, July 7, 2026 and NO LATER THAN Thursday, September 10, 2026.

A signed hard copy of the candidate's statement can be delivered to our office or may be sent via email from the candidate's email address on file with the Mohave County School Superintendent’s Office.

Once the submitting window opens, you can view the current list of 2026 Filed Candidates.

Contact Election Services

Send Email | 928-753-0747