Following the untimely death of an incumbent running unopposed this week Arizona election laws allow the political party of the deceased to select a new candidate from within the same party. Mark Dannels, former chief of the Coquille PD who was instrumental in solving the ten year old murder of Leah Freeman is one of the top three candidates under consideration. From the Benson Sun

Dever was seeking his fifth term as sheriff and was running unopposed. His death resulted in a scramble by local and state officials as to how to correctly proceed, just as the ballots were about to be printed.

Now, at least three men have tossed their hats into the ring to get their name on the ballot.

Rod Rothrock, chief deputy of the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office, Mark Dannels, former captain with the sheriff’s office, and Tombstone Marshal Billy Cloud have all approached local Republican Party officials about getting their vote to replace Dever’s name on the ballot, said Matt Creegan, chairman of the Cochise County Republican Committee.

“Our precinct committeemen will vote on which one it will be,” Creegan said.

State statutes dictate that the individuals replacing a candidate who withdraws or dies prior to the printing of the ballots must be from the same political party.

Creegan said that he has asked all of the approximately 83 elected precinct committeemen to gather for a special meeting at the Cochise County Republican headquarters at noon today, where each will cast a single vote for one of the men wanting to be on the ballot in November.

However, because of the need to print the ballots this week — in order to successfully proofread and send out military and overseas ballots — there is a serious time crunch on the process.

The individual who receives the most votes during the meeting must take the appropriate campaign paperwork to the county elections office in Bisbee “no later than 2 p.m., in order for the county to meet some of the federal election requirements that they have to meet,” Creegan said.

“Something as simple as a traffic accident on the highway (after the precinct vote)” could pose a serious problem, he said.

If one of these three men are successful in replacing Dever’s name on the ballot, they will become the only name on the ballot.

UPDATE Dannels has been chosen to replace the late Devers on the November ballot. The position is unopposed but write-ins are possible. More here