“Yesterday (July 25), I notified the Pinal County elections director that I will no longer be a candidate for office,” he said in a statement issued by his Scottsdale-based lawyer, Daniel Mestaz.
“I entered the Pinal County supervisor’s race wanting to bring a voice to Pinal County government, but for several reasons, including an almost year-long battle with cancer, I decided to officially withdraw from the race. Not as a supervisor but as a citizen, I hope to help find solutions to the crowded and underfunded roads and implement a comprehensive land plan for this part of Pinal County. As I focus on my health and personal matters, I wish those serving Pinal County now, and those that will in the future, nothing but the best.”
According to sources, though, Enright is being investigated by Pinal County for voter fraud. Allegedly, he has cast absentee ballots for his girlfriend, who died in 2007. A search warrant was executed on his home last week.
The Pinal County Sheriff’s Office did not return inquiries for comment.
Kostas Kalaitzidis with the Pinal County Attorney’s Office said, “The Pinal County Attorney’s Office would neither confirm nor deny any investigation into such a case.”
Enright addressed the allegations in a YouTube video posted four days prior, on July 21, by another media outlet.
“I was very surprised to learn that someone made allegations against me regarding fraudulent voting ballots,” he said in the video.
“I do not know who is responsible for this. This time it is difficult to respond to what are now assumptions, assertions and innuendos. I can say that I look forward to learning more about these allegations.”
If they are, indeed, formal, Enright said, he will defend himself. He also asked Pinal County voters to focus on the issues and “take a critical eye toward allegations that are surfacing just two weeks before the (primary) election voting process begins.”
Enright is also under investigation for allegedly illegally obtaining his ex-girlfriend’s home and cashing her checks after she died, sources say.
“Sheila was my high school girlfriend,” he continued on the video. ‘I’ve known her since I was 15.” They were in “constant contact” for 30 years after high school, he said. When she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and her husband left her, he moved to Arizona to take care of her in 1996. He became a licensed caregiver.
“It’s always been our home,” he said. ‘I’ve always taken care of her. I feel very, very strongly that someone would make allegations about my relationship with her.”
Enright’s withdrawal leaves candidates Todd House, Bill Dunbar and Pat Prince in the Republican primary, and candidate Maxine Brown in the Democratic primary.
By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski
