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Incumbents fall behind in key Maricopa County primary races

Maricopa County seal
Sky Schaudt/KJZZ

Voters in Maricopa County on Tuesday nominated Republicans and Democrats to face off in November for county sheriff, recorder, attorney and seats on the county board of supervisors.

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Supervisor District 1

Incumbent Maricopa County Supervisor Jack Sellers has conceded defeat to a Republican primary challenger who has criticized the board’s administration of past elections.

“The results are in, and unfortunately, they are not what we were hoping for,” Sellers said in a statement posted on social media before congratulating Chandler City Councilmember Mark Stewart for winning the GOP primary.

Tempe City Councilmember Joel Navarro ran unopposed for the Democratic nomination in District 1.

Sellers is one of several Republican county supervisors who resisted attempts by some fellow Republicans to sow doubt in the county’s 2020 and 2022 election results. Sellers, alongside Republican Supervisors Bill Gates and Clint Hickman and Democrat Steve Gallardo, defended the county’s election processes even as prominent Republicans like former President Donald Trump continued to repeat false claims that the elections were marred by widespread fraud.

In his statement, Sellers said he had a warning to “the election deniers” who dedicated time to defeat him and others who’ve defended the integrity of Maricopa County’s elections: “Be careful what you wish for.”

“At some point, you will have to answer for your efforts to undermine our democracy,” he said.

When he was elected board chairman this year, Sellers said his “highest priority in 2024 is to provide our county elections team with the resources and support they need to continue administering lawful, free, and fair elections.”

The county’s elections did not run without a hitch over the past few cycles, though. In 2022, well documented problems with the ballot printers and vote tabulators led to delays and long lines on election day.

Stewart has criticized the board’s handling of the 2022 election and declined to answer when asked if he would have certified the 2020 election Trump lost to President Biden or the 2022 election Republican Kari Lake lost to Democrat Katie Hobbs, according to SanTan Sun News.

Stewart said he wants to make sure the county is providing transparency to residents in elections and other services.

“In Chandler, one of the things we really pride ourselves on is transparency in everything we do, and I’m not saying the county wasn’t, I’m just going to make sure that is one of our key [priorities], and that could be elections, that could be anything,” he said.

Reached Tuesday night, Stewart said he believes his record at the City of Chandler resonated with voters and said he would bring a similar focus on public safety and customer service to the county.

“And we worked our tails off,” Stewart said. “We were in a lot of backyards and a lot of living rooms. We just met a lot of people, and it was a good race.”

Supervisor District 2

Man in tie with county seal in background
Maricopa County
Supervisor Thomas Galvin is shown in this screengrab from a Maricopa County video.

Incumbent Republican Thomas Galvin defeated former state lawmaker Michelle Ugenti-Rita in the GOP primary for the District 2 seat on the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors.

The candidates are running in District 2 which includes parts of Scottsdale, Cave Creek and Mesa.

"I am honored and humbled that the Republican voters of Maricopa County District 2 have selected me as the nominee,” Galvin said in a statement released Wednesday morning.

“I am proud of the work we have done at Maricopa County but there is still much to do including investing in public safety, securing our water future, and allowing Maricopa County residents to keep more of their hard-earned money,” he added.

Ugenti-Rita served in the state legislature from 2011 through 2021. She then ran unsuccessfully for Secretary of State. Her background is in real estate.

Ugenti-Rita conceded in a statement posted to X.

“I am so proud of our campaign and would like to give a heartfelt thank you to everyone who voted for me and all of my incredible supporters,” she wrote. “Our political system is precious and I am honored to have been a part of it for so many years. Congratulations to Supervisor @ThomasGalvin on his victory and I sincerely wish him the best.”

Ugenti-Rita ran an aggressive campaign against Galvin, posting attacks against him and other supervisors on social media almost daily.

Ugenti-Rita is a strong opponent of Prop 400 – the Maricopa County transportation tax extension which required legislative approval. It’s an issue she’s criticized the board for supporting.

Galvin has supported renewal of the half-cent sales tax, which funds major road projects in the Valley.

She also attacked Galvin for his actions regarding the Rio Verde Foothills water crisis in 2023.

The Rio Verde Foothills area was cut off from Scottsdale’s water supply for a period of a few months last year. State lawmakers, city government and county officials all scrambled to come up with a solution.

Ugenti-Rita accused Galvin of abandoning his Rio Verde Foothills constituents at the time.

Ugenti-Rita has championed election reform legislation at the state capitol. She authored a law that changed the margin required for an automatic election recount and has accused the board of running elections improperly.

Maricopa County has been an epicenter of election fraud conspiracy theories, which has led to vitriol against the supervisors themselves.

Galvin has staunchly defended the safety of Arizona’s elections and pushed back on false claims of fraud.

Ugenti-Rita has also accused Galvin of stocking county libraries with inappropriate books. Galvin said that reading material is something parents should vet, not something the government should dictate.

Supervisor District 3

Former state lawmaker Kate Brophy McGee led Tabatha Cuellar LaVoie, a political newcomer, in Tuesday’s GOP primary election for the District 3 seat on the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors.

As of 11:45 p.m. on Tuesday, Brophy McGee collected 74% of more than 48,000 counted votes.

The Republicans are running to represent a large chunk of Phoenix and the community of Anthem.

But there are enough registered Democratic voters in the district to make the area competitive. The winner of the GOP primary will go on to face former Phoenix Councilmember Daniel Valenzuela, who ran unopposed for the Democratic nomination.

McGee is an experienced lawmaker and has described herself as a moderate Republican.

Cuellar LaVoie is a Phoenix-based lawyer.

The district is currently represented by Republican Supervisor Bill Gates, who announced last year that he would not seek reelection.

Gates and members of his family faced threats of violence in the wake of the 2020 and 2022 elections. Voter fraud conspiracy theorists claimed that the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors played a hand in rigging the elections against Republicans like former President Donald Trump.

Gates testified to the U.S. House Oversight Committee that the 2020 election was safe. He told the Washington Post in 2023 that in the wake of the 2020 election, he now suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Brophy McGee does not loudly proclaim that the 2020 and 2022 elections were “stolen.”

She is a former lawmaker who lost the 2020 Senate general election to Sen. Christine Marsh (D-Phoenix) by a very slim margin.

In the Legislature, Brohpy McGee turned heads by voting with Democrats on a handful of bills, including one that would have required women to answer more questions before being allowed to get abortions.

She also supported a bill to ban conversion therapy for minors.

Supervisor District 4

Debbie Lesko
Gage Skidmore/CC BY 2.0
Debbie Lesko speaks with attendees during an event at the Arizona Biltmore on April 8, 2023.

Congresswoman Debbie Lesko declared victory over Robert Branch in the Maricopa County District 4 Republican Primary.

Branch, a professor who sits on the county’s parks and recreation commission, trailed Lesko by nearly 40,000 votes Tuesday night.

Lesko has served in Congress since 2018, and served in the Arizona Legislature before that. She’s also endorsed by former President Donald Trump, and the only county supervisor candidate in Arizona to sport that endorsement.

"Thank you to the West Valley voters for your support!" Lesko said in a statement on Tuesday evening. "I look forward to continuing to help the great people in the West Valley just like I've done in Congress and in the State Legislature if elected in November.”

The candidates are vying to replace outgoing Republican Supervisor Clint Hickman, who announced earlier this year that he would not seek reelection.

The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors has been accused by voting fraud conspiracy theorists of playing a role in “stealing” the 2020 and 2022 elections.

The Republican-majority board has pushed back on those accusations at every turn, leading to violent rhetoric. Hickman has faced death threats as a supervisor, and an Iowa man is now serving a two-and a half year sentence for threatening to “hang” Hickman.

Lesko did not respond to requests for comment as to whether she believes the 2020 and 2022 elections were stolen by the supervisors. She was one of 139 GOP lawmakers who voted to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in 2021 after Trump lost to President Joe Biden.

District 4 is a largely conservative West Valley district encompassing Wickenburg, Buckeye, Peoria and Surprise.

The winner of the Republican primary election will almost certainly take the seat.

County attorney

In a rematch of the 2022 campaign, incumbent Rachel Mitchell led former county prosecutor Gina Godbehere on Tuesday night in the Republican Maricopa County attorney primary election.

According to the latest poll results, Mitchell leads the race with 59% of the vote to Godbehere’s 41%.

Mitchell handedly beat Godbehere with 57% of the vote in 2022 in a special Republican primary election to replace the late Maricopa County Attorney Allister Adel, who resigned earlier that year.

Godbehere attempted to paint Mitchell as soft on crime, telling Axios Phoenix the incumbent attorney relied too heavily on diversion programs. She also questioned the decision to hand former Department of Corrections Director Charles Ryan a plea deal after he was accused of pointing a gun at police officers while drunk in 2022.

Mitchell has defended her record, pointing out she is endorsed by the state’s largest police unions, including the Arizona Police Association, Arizona Fraternal Order of Police and the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association.

Mitchell also has the backing of former Gov. Jan Brewer and the Arizona Chamber of Commerce.

Godbehere was endorsed by former Attorney General Mark Brnovich and police unions in Scottsdale and Peoria.

The winner of the Republican county attorney primary will advance to the general election to face Democrat Tamika Wooten, who is running unopposed in her party’s primary.

County sheriff

In crowded campaigns for the Republican and Democratic nominations for Maricopa County sheriff, races are so far too close to call.

On the Democratic side, incumbent Sheriff Russ Skinner fell behind former Phoenix cop Tyler Kamp by roughly 18,000 votes as of Tuesday night.

Among Republicans, former Maricopa County Sheriff Chief Deputy Jerry Sheridan led former Arizona Department of Public Safety Director Frank Milstead and former Glendale police Officer Mike Crawford.

Sheridan, Milstead and Crawford held 51%, 29% and 21% of the vote, respectively, on Tuesday.

Skinner was appointed to take the place of former Democratic Sheriff Paul Penzone, who resigned in January.

In 2016, Penzone challenged former Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who at that point had been in office for 24 years.

Arpaio is a national figure who called himself the country’s “toughest” sheriff. He took a hard line against illegal immigration and supported SB 1070 in 201, known as the “show me your papers” law.

In 2010, Sheridan was appointed Arpaio’s chief deputy.

Skinner was a longtime Republican, but registered as a Democrat before taking Penzone’s place. Only a person of the same political party was eligible for the spot.

County recorder

Stephen Richer, who’s been a fierce defender of the integrity of Maricopa County elections since he was elected as county recorder in 2020, has lost a Republican primary to keep that role, according to a race call by The Associated Press.

Maricopa County includes Phoenix and is Arizona's population center. The recorder helps run county elections.

According to the AP, Richer was defeated by GOP challenger Justin Heap, a state representative backed by the far-right Freedom Caucus and other conservative groups. With 81% of estimated votes in, as of 5 a.m. ET, Heap had 42% of the vote, while Richer had 36%. Another challenger had 22%.

Richer’s defeat is a loss for those who’ve spent the past four years defending Maricopa County election administrators against baseless claims.

Richer, as well as the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, has been on the frontlines of efforts to fight back with accurate information about the voting experience, how votes are counted and when results are released.

For his defense of elections, Richer has drawn the ire of fellow Republicans, including one state party official who recently called for his lynching in a newly discovered video. And in 2022, federal prosecutors charged a Missouri man for allegedly threatening to kill Richer after he criticized fellow Republicans who conducted a deeply flawed review of Maricopa County’s 2020 presidential election. There were “plenty more where that came from,” Richer said at the time.

“It takes a strong stomach to work in this field,” Richer recently told NPR.

Heap has been once source of that criticism, having attacked Maricopa County’s election administration in past years as an embarrassment. But on the campaign trail, he declined to say that widespread fraud played a role in Maricopa County’s election results in 2020 or 2022.

But that’s a position supported by many of the GOP lawmakers and activists supporting his candidacy. And Heap was recruited to run by state Sen. Jake Hoffman, a Republican who’s since been indicted for his role in an alleged "fake elector" scheme to undermine the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Heap also spent time criticizing Richer for issues outside the purview of the recorder’s office, like long lines at polling places on Election Day.

Richer’s office is in charge of early voting by mail, while supervisors are responsible for Election Day voting.

Military veteran Tim Stringham won an uncontested Democratic primary for the job.

More election news

Ben Giles is a senior editor at KJZZ.
Wayne Schutsky is a broadcast field correspondent covering Arizona politics on KJZZ. He has over a decade of experience as a journalist reporting on local communities in Arizona and the state Capitol.
Camryn Sanchez is a field correspondent at KJZZ covering everything to do with state politics.
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