[2] In 2012, Chavez mounted a campaign as a Republican write-in candidate against Democrat Ed Pastor for the District 7 seat.
With Chavez mounting the write-in campaign, he was not listed as the official Republican in election result announcements.
Candidates included Chavez, then running under Scott Fistler; Jeffrey Brown; Dan Carroll; Austin Head; Justin Johnson, son of former Phoenix Mayor Paul Johnson; David Lujan; and Laura Pastor, daughter of Ed Pastor.
[7] Early results showed Kate Gallego and Laura Pastor leading the polls.
On June 17, 2014, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge John Rea ruled that Chavez was ineligible to run based on the signatures being invalid.
Chavez rebutted those accusations, saying the change was to get a shorter and easier-to-pronounce name, and that he was inspired by a dog food brand.