A second person has filed to run as a write-in candidate for Pima County constable in Justice Precinct 9, which had no one listed on the ballot after the incumbent was booted from the race — but one of them may face a legal challenge.

John Escobedo submitted his paperwork to the Pima County Elections Department on Wednesday, one day before the June 20 deadline, according to Raymond Cruz, an election compliance officer for the county.

Escobedo, 39, moved to South Tucson a year ago. He is the second candidate to file as a write-in candidate for the seat.

Gerard Acuña filed paperwork to run for the office on June 10, according to a list of candidates on the county’s Election Department website.

Acuña, 25, may face legal hurdles to his candidacy because earlier this year, he filed to run for constable in Justice Precinct 4, but withdrew from that race on April 4 after filing his paperwork on April 1. For that race, he said he lived at an address on East Colorado Street, but in his paperwork for the write-in candidacy, he stated under penalty of perjury that he had lived at an address in Precinct 47 for the last eight years.

To be eligible for office, Arizona state law requires political candidates to reside in the district they will serve for at least 120 days prior to the election.

For the July 30 primary, 120 days before is April 1. Acuña would have to have been a resident of JP9 on that day in order to run for an office in that precinct, but his paperwork declared he was a resident of JP4 on that day.

Acuña, 25, told the Sentinel that “my partner’s address that I was living with in JP4 wasn’t considered my primary residence after doing more research. I withdrew from that race. Therefore, my permanent residence is in Precinct 47 (which) allowed me to run as a write-in candidate” in JP9.

Acuña didn’t detail where he has been registered to vote, or how long he lived in JP4.

Incumbent Constable George Camacho was kicked off the ballot after a judge ruled he didn’t have sufficient valid signatures on his nominating petitions.

With no candidates on the ballot, the write-in candidates must receive enough votes to equal or exceed the number of signatures required on nominating petitions in order to have their name listed on the November ballot. In the case of Justice Precinct 9, which is on Tucson’s South Side, Acuña and Escobedo would have to capture a minimum 492 votes. If both men are in the race, whoever gets the most votes would advance to the November election.

Constables are charged with delivering court papers such as eviction notices and orders of protection. The dangers of the job were illustrated when Constable Deborah Martinez was shot and killed in August 2022 in the process of an eviction.