Last summer, Maricopa County Supervisor Bill Gates announced he would not seek re-election this year. He’s served two terms on the board, and before that had been elected to the Phoenix City Council, representing north Valley communities in each office.
Gates was chairman of the Board of Supervisors in 2022, when it faced repeated questions and accusations about that year’s midterm elections. Gates himself faced threats, as did his colleagues; he said the episode left him with a diagnosis of PTSD.
Gates recently announced that he will be leading a new Arizona State University program called the Mechanics of Democracy Laboratory, or MODL, that started this fall. The program will aim to train the next generation of election administrators, as well as work to correct misconceptions and debunk conspiracy theories about elections and how they’re run.
Gates spoke with The Show to talk about this new endeavor, as well as what led him to it, starting with his first thought about teaching a class essentially about how elections work.
Full conversation
BILL GATES: Well, I have to tell you, you know, over my 15 years of serving on the Phoenix City Council and on the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, Arizona State has been so involved in so many things. We've partnered with them on various items.
I spent a lot of time over at Watts College just over the years on, on certain activities. And as I kind of look to the future and some of the challenges that certainly we're facing in government broadly, but particularly for elections officials, I thought, wouldn't it be wonderful to keep working on this?
And in particular, focusing on two things, one, the misinformation that's out there about our elections and being able to educate folks on it. And two and frankly, more importantly, how do we, as we look at the number of people who are leaving the elections administration profession, how do we encourage a new generation to step up and take on these important roles?
MARK BRODIE: It sounds like part of your goal here is very pragmatic in terms of training more election workers, election officials, but also seems kind of, part of it seems kind of aspirational in terms of trying to make people trust elections again.
GATES: That's right. I think those two objectives are, are intertwined with one another. Certainly, if we don't have new people coming into the profession who have been trained in how to do it, we may have problems in the future, but at the same time, it's going to encourage more people to get in the field if we can bring that trust back for some people who are, you know, a little, their trust is a little shaken in the system.
BRODIE: So given all of that and given all of what we've seen about election officials, election workers leaving their jobs over the last number of years, given threats and you know, all the misinformation out there. How do you try to attract new people to this job?
GATES: So this is a great question. It's one that I've thought about quite a bit and, and look, if you are someone who's faint of heart, maybe elections administration is not the right field for you. And by the way, that's sad. I don't mean to make light of it. It's sad.
But I think now what we're looking at is with the attention that has been put on elections administration at a level that we've never had before, whatever it is in people that draws them to running into a burning building, you know, going out on our streets and protecting us at night and, and, you know, potentially facing bullets whizzing by their head, that same drive that we have in people to strive for something bigger than ourselves. I think it's that same sort of drive that we're looking for now and that I think is starting to draw young people to this profession.
Look, the, the standard saying is nobody ever grew up wanting to be an elections administrator, right? They made a wrong turn somewhere, ended up in it. Now we are, we're starting to see the leading edge now of the first generation ever. Had one come up to me at class last week who said, I want to do a career in elections administration. I can't tell you how happy that made me.
BRODIE: It sounds like you're taking the same kind of approach or at least a similar kind of approach to recruiting, for example, police officers or firefighters or teachers, people who kind of are in the realm of public service.
GATES: Yeah, that's right. I mean, I would argue that right now getting into elections administration is one of the most important jobs you can do in public service for generations. We, it was, it was taken as accepted that the results were accurate, that the elections were safe and secure. Now that that's being questioned by some, and I would argue by many for all the wrong reasons, that's why we need people like that who want to make a difference. And if they do want to make a difference, elections administration is the way to do it.
BRODIE: Do you think that trust can ultimately be restored in elections and in the people who administer them?
GATES: I do believe that trust can be restored. First of all, it's already there with the majority of Americans. As a Republican, it makes me sad to say that the majority of the people who are questioning our election system right now are Republicans. So I think that's important for me as a Republican, as a registered Republican, to be stepping into this new role and talking as a Republican about what we can do to restore that trust in elections.
BRODIE: So what in your mind are the best ways to try to do that? I mean, how do you try to take people who are skeptical of results and the people who administer elections and try to convince them no, no, everything is on the up and up here?
GATES: Now, I can't do this with everyone, but I think the best way to do it is to ask them to come and join me and come and see how we do things at the Maricopa County Tabulation Center. And we've done that over the last few years, taking hundreds, if not, you know, over 1,000 people through all sorts of different groups from around the county to show them the process. So bottom line is more information, educating people is the best way to address this challenge.
BRODIE: Do you see what you're doing now in some way as kind of a continuation of your service on the Board of Supervisors? I mean, you've been pretty open about why you chose not to run again, some of the threats and you know, terrible things people have said and done to and about you and your family after recent elections. Do you see this as sort of a way to continue doing it maybe just in the background.
GATES: I do see this as a way to continue to support that next generation. I think it would be a shame for the experiences that I've had, the stories that I have been a part of, the lessons that I've learned. It would be a shame for me to just, you know, sort of say, I, I don't want to ever want to talk about this again.
I have been open about how it was a traumatic situation for me and my family, but I've been open about it. I have sought help for it, and I'm in a good place. And I feel like I, this is the best thing that I can do right now, is to share this information and potentially inspire a new generation to get into this field, which is so important right now.
BRODIE: I wonder if in some ways you feel like maybe you can make more of a difference doing this than you could sitting on the county Board of Supervisors.
GATES: Well, that's hard to say. As I mention quite often, we're in 50 lines of business at the Board of Supervisors. Elections is kind of what we've, we've become known as, but being able to work in all these different areas, both of my time on the Board of Supervisors and City Council. I'm very grateful for that service. And I think this is the right place for this to happen right here in Maricopa County where there have been so many events that have been central to both challenges that we faced in elections.
But I would argue also some of the the successes that we've had and the way that we've learned how to push back to, for example, the way that we were live tweeting during the so called hearings that the state Senate would hold during the Cyber Ninja audit. And the way that we've continued to be extremely transparent, 2022 we ran the most transparent election we ever have. And we're going to do that again in 2024.
BRODIE: What worries you about the general election coming up in November for Maricopa County?
GATES: I don't really like the word worry, but what am I focused on and what is the team focused on? Number one issue? And I'm starting to see people talk about in the media, which I think is great, is the fact that we're gonna have two when you go to vote in November or in October, if you're an early voter, you're gonna have two pieces of paper with races on both of those pieces of paper.
Because there are so many, not only the ones, I think a lot of people are thinking about, presidential, U.S. Senate, things like that. We have judicial retention elections. We have all the different initiatives and referenda. So I'm concerned that people, I want to make sure that they see that they have those two pieces of paper and they vote every single race that they want to.
That is one of the major focuses and admittedly, we continue to be very focused on security, both of our workers and of our voters.
BRODIE: As I'm sure, you know, there are still people who are pushing conspiracy theories about elections both past and future. I'm wondering if, I know you don't like the word worried, but are you maybe concerned about if a particular candidate loses in November, what the result of that might be given what we've seen over the past couple of cycles?
GATES: Unfortunately, this has now been a reality in the last couple of cycles as we've had candidates who've been on the losing end and have refused to concede they've refused to accept the results. So honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if that happens again. We've seen this before.
All we can do is do our level best and communicate to folks what's going on. One of the issues in particular for us here in Arizona is the time that it takes for the results. And that's something that will continue to educate people about. But unfortunately, those who would try and create chaos in our election system seize upon that as a suggestion that there's something going on that the election is being rigged.
That's simply not the case. But because we've been through this both in 2020, in 2022, we won't be surprised by it and we'll be prepared for it. And the way we prepare for it is that we continue to do our jobs and we continue to put the truth out there.
BRODIE: I was going to ask you if you feel like you've learned anything from the last two election cycles specifically about not just sort of transparency and how people might respond, but also maybe more pragmatic things about like what kind of security you need or things like, you know, having a livestream up or technological issues that maybe can help alleviate some of the issues that, that people out there are having.
GATES: Yeah, I would say in general, it's, it's changed almost everything that we do in, in one way or the other. The way that we communicate as you reference. It's so much broader than we ever did before. The security. If you came down to Maricopa County Tabulation Center, I could show you that the fences we've had to add, the badging that we've had to add, the metal detectors. It makes me sad. I wish we didn't have to do it.
But that's what we owe to our workers. The workers who spend 14 to 16 hour days during the election tabulating it and doing all the various roles, making sure that people outside of the center can't take pictures of them, take pictures of their license plates. That's unacceptable. Our people deserve better. And so we have taken a lot of measures and we just know that we've got to continue to do what's right. We've got to continue to do our jobs and we can't lose that focus. No matter what people say, even including nominees of, of one party or the other for federal offices.
BRODIE: If somebody had told you, let's say 10 years ago, that this is where you would be right now. That you had decided voluntarily to leave office, you're gonna be starting a program at ASU to try to train the next generation of election workers and restore trust in elections. What would 10 years ago Bill Gates have thought about that?
GATES: I, I would have been very surprised by that. Now, before I was on the Phoenix City Council, I was actually an Election Day lawyer for the Republican Party. So I, I would have been excited to hear that I was working in elections.
But then if you explain to me in a little more detail, what had led me to this, I, I would have been saddened by it, but I also would have been pleased that this was the direction that I chose to take, that Arizona State University was going to allow me to do this, support these efforts. And I have to tell you the, the reaction from folks in the community and across the country has been wonderful.
BRODIE: I know that in the past, you've described yourself as a Reagan Republican and maybe you still consider yourself a Reagan Republican.
GATES: I do.
BRODIE: And given what you have done in the past, you mentioned you were an Election Day lawyer for the Republican Party. I'm curious what you make of sort of where you fit in the G O P right now.
GATES: It's, it's been a challenging situation. I think for those of us who have been active in the party, have been an elected official for many years. We've seen a shift in the party that is not really consistent with my view of where the party ought to be, what our focus ought to be.
But as I remind people all the time, right now, my role, my major role as a member of the Board of Supervisors is to support the whole elections team and make sure that our focus is on that and making sure that whoever it is that the people of Maricopa County vote for to be their elected officials that they have that opportunity to vote, the votes are tabulated and then those new folks will be sworn in in 2025.
MARK BRODIE: Do you ever get push back I wonder from people on the left who maybe think because you have sort of fallen out of favor with, at least with the base of the Republican Party, they assume that you've suddenly become a Democrat and have, like, abandoned all of the values that you've had for your entire life in the Republican Party.
GATES: Well, I, I don't think I've had too much of that. I, I think that people understand if they do wonder that, you know, when we talk about policy issues, I think they're reminded that I'm still a conservative Republican. That's what I consider myself.
But it is, this has been one of the hardest things for it and frankly, one of the most traumatic, one of things, I've talked about that, is that these folks that are in my party, these people that I worked with, these people that I campaigned for, either, you know, started to allege that my colleagues and I were involved in rigging an election and had, you know, we basically had no integrity anymore. Or simply sat silent while others did accuse us of those things. That's very challenging.
But I know there's several of us who've had this similar kind of experience, many of my colleagues, Stephen Richer, Rusty Bowers. And in the end, all we did was we, we just did what’s right.
I know for me, I don't feel like I did anything heroic. I just did my job. We followed the law and that is our responsibility. That's the oath that we took to follow the law and the constitution. That's what I'm going to continue to do through Dec. 31 of this year.
