PHOENIX - Recalled Senate President Russell Pearce has filed paperwork with the Secretary of State's Office that would allow him to seek a return to the Legislature.
But Pearce said Thursday that talk of a campaign is premature at best.
"I'm getting pushed by a lot of people to run," said Pearce, a Mesa Republican best known as the architect of Arizona's SB 1070 anti-illegal-immigration law.
But Pearce also said he is enjoying his new role as president of Ban Amnesty Now, as well as hosting a weekly radio show. "I'm having fun with that show," he said.
What stirred up talk of a new Senate bid was that Pearce, like all candidates and elected officials, was required to file an annual report of campaign finances at the end of January.
Pearce noted the new legislative districts have yet to be approved by the U.S. Justice Department. In the interim, lawmakers have set up a system so candidate campaign-finance filings can be made under the old district designation or the new one. Pearce said he simply chose to use the new district number.
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Pearce also reported he still has more than $31,000 in his account, including contributions he received before recall petitions were filed against him. Donations for that race, as well as spending on his unsuccessful bid to keep his office, are filed in a separate account.
He said none of that is an indication of a future race, this year or beyond.
"This is technical stuff," Pearce said of the filing.
