“This valley here built me, shaped me, shaped me,” he said at another point. “It taught me that hard work and perseverance pays off, even if it fails the first time.”

Fontes said her grandmother on her mother’s side, Lillian Grimm Petit, worked at the court as a clerk for the oversight board. I went,” he said.

His paternal grandfather, Florentino Diaz “Tino” Fontes, was the former mayor of Nogales.

“Nogales is my home,” he said.

A 52-year-old Democrat, Fontes was elected Secretary of State in November with 52.4% of the vote. He defeated Republican Mark Finkem at a Trump supporter rally on Jan. 6, 2021, ahead of the mob attack on the US Capitol.

In remarks on Friday, Fontes referred to attacks aimed at preventing Congress from proving victory for Joe Biden’s presidency.

“On January 6, 2021, a declaration of war was made on our democracy. Some decided it was much better.There is more power than we can all decide and be self-governing.And that is crazy.And it is anti-American,” he said.

“In that war, we only had one battle. And on November 8th, the good side and the democratic side won. And I am very proud to have been a part of that battle.” increase.”

In Santa Cruz County, home of the Democratic Party, Fontes won 70% of the votes cast in November’s election for Secretary of State. In the county vote she received 9,181 votes. This is the highest number among candidates in an election campaign.

In the August Democratic primary, Fontes won the nomination with 53% of the statewide vote. In Santa Cruz County he won 73% in the primary.

Fontes promised audiences on Friday not to forget the state’s rural communities.

“I know the rest of Arizona resents Maricopa. I get it,” he said. “And I am here to tell you that we are in rural Arizona, Duncan to Wilcox, Kayenta to Rolle, Arizona, and here in Nogales. will not disappoint you.”

In addition to the important role the secretary of state plays in monitoring and administering elections, Fontes told the audience that she also has a responsibility to protect Arizona’s libraries and archives.

In addition, the Office of the Secretary of State works with companies to record partnerships and register trade names and trademarks.

“I think one of the important things the secretarial office does is greasing companies from slipping,” Fontes told NI after his public remarks, noting that his goal is to bring government down. It’s about making it work “at the speed of business” and making it “easier to start and maintain a business in Arizona.”

“This is one of the reasons why I had the Port Authority people here, and one of the reasons why others in the business community have been so welcoming of my candidacy. Because I know Americans realize that business is business,” he said.

Fontes was quick to criticize the “MAGA fascists”, but also spoke of a desire to work with what he called “GOP Republicans”.

They are Republicans who “cared about their communities, cared about the peaceful transfer of power, and were unimpressed by authoritarianism or fascism. We want to contribute to the development of the community.”

Fontes said his paternal family has lived in the Nogales area since the 1690s. His maternal Grimm and Petit families also have a long history. His great-grandfather was the first electrician in his Valley of Santa Cruz, he said.

“So Nogales is not only my hometown, but my roots and all the good things,” he said.

Fontes was born in the city and grew up in the Villa Coronado neighborhood in the home previously occupied by Federal Judge James A. Soto, who presided over Fontes’ oath of office on Friday.

Fontes attended AJ Mitchell Elementary School, Wade Carpenter Middle School, and Nogales High School. After he graduated from the NHS in 1988, he began his higher education at Arizona State University. He took a leave of absence from college and served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1992 to 1996, before returning to ASU and completing his Bachelor of Arts in Communications in 1998.

According to the campaign website, Fontes received a law degree from the University of Denver’s Sturm College of Law in 2000 and has worked at the Denver District Attorney’s Office, the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, and the Arizona Attorney General’s Office before opening a private practice. turned to

In 2016, he narrowly defeated seven-term incumbent Helen Purcell in the Maricopa County Registrar election. The Arizona Republic reported at the time that he was the first Democrat elected to the position in nearly 50 years.

Fontes was Maricopa County’s scorer for four years before losing a narrow margin to Stephen Richer in 2020.

Fontes’ father, Victor Fontes, said he recognizes his son’s leadership qualities have been passed on. Adrian remembers that when he was little, he liked to dress up as Count Dracula for Halloween and hand out candy to trick-or-treaters on his doorstep.

About today’s son, Victor Fontes said: But he also knew that when he went there, no one in the Congress of Phoenix knew where Nogales was. “

“He’s fine,” said Victor Fontes. It’s a big problem for him.”

Norma Fontes, Victor’s sister and Adrian’s aunt, was among the family gathered at court on Friday. Her father, former mayor Tino Fontes, held his two jobs for 17 years: court janitor and Southern Pacific Railroad employee.

“We were familiar with the courthouse,” she said, adding that her four older brothers helped her father by emptying the courthouse bins when he was on the railroad. rice field.

“How proud would he be to know that his grandson was appointed Secretary of State where he once worked.

(Additional reporting by Manuel C. Coppola.)