Are claims of Olivia Cortes being a ‘sham’ candidate true?

MESA, AZ - Before any of the voters ballots are cast, we're demanding answers over allegations a Mesa woman running in the recall election of state Senate President Russell Pearce is a sham candidate.

ABC15 was the first to speak with Olivia Cortes Wednesday.

A second interview Thursday reveals even more about her intentions.

View the interview in the attached video.

For the first time, could there be evidence Cortes is a sham candidate? It was presented in Maricopa County Superior Court during Thursday's hearing.

An audio recording could help in the case to block the senate candidacy of Cortes.

In the recording, you hear Suzanne Dreher’s voice. She says she was paid to circulate petitions to get Olivia Cortes' name on the ballot.

A voter can be heard in the recording saying, “Oh, well, I don't think I want to sign because I support Russell Pearce.”

Dreher can reportedly be heard saying, “Well, then you want to sign.”

Under oath, she testified to a hidden agenda to get Sen. Russell Pearce re-elected.

“I was told if people were supporters of Pearce to go ahead and sign this and it would help his chances,” Dreher said in court.

“So the idea was to dilute or divert the vote?” asked Tom Ryan, the plaintiff’s attorney.

Dreher responded, “Yeah.”

Ryan asked Dreher, “Did anyone talk to you prior to you doing this advise you that by running a diversionary or sham candidate that might run afoul of Arizona election laws?

Dreher responded, “I had no idea.”

There also seems to be some confusion. When Cortes was asked under oath about whether she has taken out the $500 she deposited in her account, she said, “No, because I'm getting ready to do fliers.”

But, during a one-on-one interview with ABC15, Cortes told us a different story.

ABC15 asked, “How much have you spent?”

Cortes responded, “So far, I have paid for the website.”

This candidate says her platform issue is immigration reform, and is running against Pearce, the architect of SB 1070.

ABC15 asked Cortes, “Do you support Senate Bill 1070?”

Cortes answers, “I'm, uhh, not really sure. No, I don't think. No.”

Jerry Lewis, the other candidate in the recall election told ABC15 he wants the focus to return to the issues.

“I think people have had enough of the gamesmanship,” said Lewis. “I think this whole thing sullies the political climate and makes us look like something that we are not.”

ABC15 asked Lewis if he still had concerns about Cortes’ legitimacy as a candidate.

“No, I have no concerns about that, really I don’t,” said Lewis while smiling. “Her name is on the ballot and she got enough signatures.”

As for the chance that Cortes is being used to take votes from Lewis to help Pearce, Lewis responded, “If that’s what they did, that’s an interesting tactic, we just have to work harder and get our messages out there.”

Lewis said he and his campaign staff had nothing to do with the lawsuit involving Cortes and went on to say he is not angry about the situation.

“She’s (Cortes) a sister, I believe we are all brothers and sisters and to be angry over something like this, no, life is too short,” said Lewis.

Attempts to reach Russell Pearce and his campaign staff for comment on Cortes’ court appearance were unsuccessful.