Maricopa County attorney hopeful Gina Godbehere says she's a 'conservative fighter'
Maricopa County Republican primary candidate Gina Godbehere is attempting to run to the right of incumbent Rachel Mitchell, portraying herself at an Arizona Clean Elections Commission event on Wednesday as a "conservative fighter" who will undo the "liberal policies" of the current administration.
The discussion between Godbehere and The Arizona Republic's Richard Ruelas was broadcast live.
The event was initially planned as a debate, but Mitchell did not accept an invitation to attend, according to a Clean Elections spokesperson.
A spokesperson for Mitchell's campaign would not say why she sat the Clean Elections debate out but said she would be participating in two upcoming candidate forums.
Godbehere speculated that Mitchell was avoiding debates with her "because she knows that I know what’s actually going on."
The county attorney heads the Maricopa County Attorney's Office, one of the nation's largest prosecutorial agencies.
The office reviews and determines charges for felonies in the county and misdemeanors in unincorporated areas. The office also provides legal services for the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors and county departments and agencies.
Godbehere touted her experience working for 25 years at the Maricopa County Attorney's Office, during which she served as a bureau chief.
She cited two cases from Mitchell's time leading the agency that made her want to run for County Attorney.
A pickup plowed through a bicycling group on Feb. 25, 2023, in Goodyear, killing a man and woman and injuring many others. Pedro Quintana-Lujan, 26, crashed his truck into the cyclists on Cotton Lane Bridge, killing Karen Malisa, 61, and David Kero, 65.
The Maricopa County Attorney's Office, under Mitchell, concluded there wasn't enough evidence to pursue a felony conviction, passing the case back to Goodyear's city prosecutor. Consequently, Quintana-Lujan avoided felony charges.
“When the county attorney refused to file any charges and sent those to the city for a misdemeanor, there was nothing the city could do, there was nothing the police could do, the mayor, or the council," Godbehere said. "That was one of the main reasons I stepped in this race to run for office."
“We are not holding offenders accountable,” Godbehere said. “There’s too many felonies being turned down to misdemeanors and sent to cities where they’re not being monitored."
The other case that stuck with Godbehere was Mitchell's offer of a plea deal to Charles Ryan, the former Arizona prisons chief who kept police engaged in an armed standoff for hours at his Tempe home.
Despite testimony from the Tempe police officers saying Ryan pointed a gun at them during the standoff and made them fear for their lives, Mitchell agreed to a plea that kept Ryan out of prison.
“In that case, my opponent gave a sweetheart deal to a political insider — a deal that nobody else in the criminal justice system would have received," Godbehere said.
She called the plea deal "unjustifiable" and said it created an appearance of a two-tiered system.
Godbehere said Mitchell’s handling of the case eroded public trust in the system, and said the plea deal was not fair to the Tempe officers who said they feared for their lives during the incident.
“Plea offers serve a function," Godbehere said. "They allow victims to avoid the additional trauma of testifying. They ensure finality of a judgment for the victims. And they also save resources."
"But the key is, plea agreements have to be fairly applied to everybody," she said. "You have to have policies, and you have to make sure that they're enforced. So one defendant isn't getting a better plea than another defendant" who is similarly situated.
Godbehere criticized the current administration for offering lenient plea deals for repeat drug offenders, saying there should be more mandated treatment.
While saying she supports diversion programs for youth, Godbehere said Mitchell's office was using diversion too liberally, and offering it to people facing serious felonies like robbery.
On the subject of abortion access, Godbehere said she would enforce the law.
She acknowledged that voters would make a decision on abortion access this fall.
“My role as the county attorney is going to be to enforce the law and the will of the people and whatever that may be once it is determined,” she said. “And so, when it comes to abortion, just know I am not going to substitute my judgment, whether it be abortion or any other category of laws for yours. You get to choose what the law is going to be, and my job is to enforce your will.”
Despite an executive order from Gov. Katie Hobbs giving Attorney General Kris Mayes the power to handle any attempted county prosecution under state abortion laws, Godbere said the attorney general had no authority to prevent the county attorney from enforcing the law.
Godbehere said she was concerned about the way Mitchell has handled the prosecution of "Gilbert Goons" cases.
“We should have been in that community from the beginning,” Godbehere said of the teen group attacks in the southeast Valley. “We should have been in there trying to encourage our youth to come forward, empowering the bystanders."
Godbehere first ran against Mitchell in the 2022 primary election. Mitchell, who was appointed in April 2022 to replace Allister Adel after she stepped down, won with 57% of the vote and has been serving out the remainder of Adel's term.
Godbehere said this time around she has been able to travel more and connect more with voters.
"You can go with my opponent, who's going to continue the status quo and pretend everything's OK," Godbehere said. "Or you can choose a conservative fighter. Someone who's not running for power. Someone who's running to make a difference."
The winner of this year's Republican primary will face off against the lone Democrat candidate, Tamika Wooten, in the general election.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Gina Godbehere says she'll undo 'liberal policies' of Rachel Mitchell