Handbook·Elections

Running for office in Arizona

State page·Verified 2026-07-10

This page covers what's specific to Arizona on top of the general guide to filing for local office.

Filing in Arizona

Arizona candidates for state legislature and statewide office file with the Secretary of State. County and local candidates, including city council and county supervisor, file with their county recorder, who also verifies signatures. Every candidate qualifies through a nomination petition, and the signature count is not a fixed number: it's a percentage of qualified signers in the relevant district, recalculated each cycle from the prior election's turnout, so the exact threshold changes by office and by district every cycle. Arizona's E-Qual system is worth knowing about if you're filing for county, city, or town office: it lets you collect 100 percent of your required signatures electronically instead of door to door, which is a real practical shortcut over paper petitions.

Deadlines and numbers

  • 2026 statewide nomination petition filing window: March 7 to April 6, 2026, 5:00pm
  • 2026 Maricopa County office filing window (example): February 21 to March 23, 2026, 5:00pm
  • Signature formula: a percentage of qualified signers, varies by office and district, recalculated every cycle
  • E-Qual electronic signature collection is available for county, city, and town candidates

The dossier could not confirm exact current signature counts for specific state legislative districts or specific city council and county supervisor seats, since these are calculated per district per cycle. Get the current number from your county recorder, or route to /engage.

Where to go