Arizona official who defended state's elections loses GOP primary

PHOENIX — Incumbent Stephen Richer was ousted in his Republican primary for Maricopa County recorder, an outcome that could have a major impact on how elections are administered in the nation’s most populous battleground county.

State Rep. Justin Heap had 42.4% support to 35.9% for Richer when The Associated Press called the race Wednesday morning. Don Hiatt, a candidate who worked in information management technology, took 21.8%.

Richer is an outspoken defender of the swing state’s election process who forcefully pushed back against the unfounded voter fraud claims that spread after the 2020 and 2022 races.

Heap, a critic of Maricopa elections in years past, has dodged questions about whether the 2020 election was fraudulent. He was endorsed by many prominent Arizona Republicans who have refused to accept Joe Biden’s victory four years ago, including Kari Lake, who is running for U.S. Senate this year after her failed 2022 gubernatorial campaign.

“I am endorsing Justin Heap for the Maricopa County recorder because we want honest elections,” Lake said at a campaign event in Goodyear, Ariz., in June. “We need a heap of honesty in our elections.”

The primary for Maricopa County recorder, a job with a vast administrative role that includes processing deeds and overseeing the voter file and other parts of elections, is typically a sleepy affair. But the contest was much more heated this year, as Maricopa, the largest county of a key battleground state, has emerged as a hotbed for unfounded election fraud claims.

After ballot printers and vote tabulation machines malfunctioned during Arizona’s 2022 election, baseless claims of malicious activity arose, and conspiracy theories about Richer resulted in Richer’s facing death