Recent Maricopa County election results have national implications
Incumbent Stephen Richer lost the Republican primary for Maricopa County recorder to a right-wing challenger, a result that could dramatically change election administration in the 4.5 million-person Phoenix-area county.
Richer conceded on Wednesday morning to state Rep. Justin Heap, a member of the Arizona Legislature's far-right Freedom Caucus.
Arizona is a battleground state in presidential elections, in which the Trump campaign and its local allies tried to overturn his 2020 loss to President Biden.
Richer defended the integrity of Arizona elections and pushed back on false claims of voter fraud.
Heap has avoided taking a stance on the outcome of the 2020 election and was endorsed by Republicans who reject the results, including Kari Lake, the Arizona GOP Senate nominee who refused to concede her own loss in the 2022 gubernatorial.
After the Associated Press early Wednesday called the race for Heap based on early, unofficial results, Richer in a lengthy post on X said: "Elections have winners and, sadly, losers. And in this one, it looks like I'm going to end up on the losing side of the column.
"But that's the name of the game. Accept it. Move on," he wrote, before congratulating Heap and pledging to use his remaining months to continue the "efficient and lawful execution of my duties."
Richer was behind Heap by a few thousand votes in the first results drop of the night, early ballots that were more likely to favor him than those cast on election day. As the night wore on, Heap’s lead widened. He declared victory by sharing a congratulatory post from the State Freedom Caucus Network on X hours after Richer posted his concession post on Wednesday.
"Rep. Heap upset a RINO incumbent who did nothing about election integrity in Arizona," the post read. "Now elections in the state's largest county will be run by a strong conservative."
Richer will become the third in a string of Maricopa County recorders who have helped administer an election that saw their loss. Richer defeated Democrat Adrian Fontes in 2020. Fontes defeated Republican Helen Purcell, who held the post for 28 years, in 2016.
Other results show incumbents taking leads in their respective races as the county draws one step closer to a November election.
Polls closed at 7 p.m. Tuesday. Here is where the races stand.
GOP challenger unseats recorder
Unofficial results show Heap defeated Richer, while challenger Don Hiatt fell behind. Democrat Tim Stringham ran unopposed.
The county recorder seat holds power over voter registration and early voting. Maricopa County is one of the largest voting jurisdictions in the country and a political battleground, and the GOP primary largely hinged on election integrity concerns.
Two Republicans sought to unseat Richer: Heap and Hiatt. Both voiced issues with county elections.
Heap, who previously supported legislation to remove Arizona from a multistate voter registration list maintenance effort, pledged to clean voter rolls and promised faster election results. Hiatt also committed to cleaning voter rolls and said he would publicly release election-related data, including detailed logs from machines that tally votes.
Richer, first elected in 2020, was looking for a second term. During his time in office, he touted his efforts to clean voter rolls and improve chain of custody documentation. Along the way, he established himself as a staunch defender of the county's election operations as he pushed back on conspiracy theories and misinformation.
Heap will face military veteran and attorney Stringham, a Democrat, in the November election. His nomination gives Stringham's campaign a viability boost. Richer had seen support from across the political aisle and was widely expected to dominate if he made it to the general election.
Stringham said Wednesday morning that he saw Heap's victory coming and made a plea to Republican-leaning and moderate voters.
"If you voted for Stephen Richer, I imagine you did so because of his honesty in the face of lies over the last four years," Stringham said. "I’m asking you to continue to vote for the honest candidate. Consider voting for a Democrat this time around."
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: stephen-richer-arizona-maricopa-county-election-results
