Phoenix (AZ Family) — Early election results show the race for Maricopa County Recorder remains a tight race as of early Wednesday morning.

Republican Justin Heap has a narrow lead over Democrat Tim Stringham.

The results, updated at 3:45 a.m., show Heap with 653,723 votes to Stringham’s 609,335.

Current county Republican Steven Richer lost reelection to Heap in the primary earlier this year.

Richer, one of the elected officials who serves as Maricopa County’s elections director, was among several Republican elected officials, including Kari Lake, Abe Hamadeh and Mark Finchem, who lost their respected race. After claiming election fraud, he became a pariah for the right to defend election integrity. In 2020 and 2022.

Heap currently represents Mesa’s 10th District.

“I have been a member of Congress for the past two years,” Heap told his family in Arizona. “I serve on the House Elections Committee, so I’ve spent the last two years looking at the problems we have in our election system, studying Arizona’s election laws, and figuring out ways we can improve our election system. We have been exploring ways to improve transparency and efficiency.

Mr. Stringham is a political newcomer. He is an attorney and a veteran of the United States Army and Navy.

“I’ve been saying to people all along that I think it’s crazy to want to be in politics, but I think it’s crazy to leave politics to some people who have experience in politics. And I’m really proud of our elections department,” Stringer told Arizona Family. “I think they did a very good job under stressful circumstances, and I think it’s an incredible honor to be a part of that department.”

Mr Heap has criticized the electoral system and believes voter confidence is at an all-time low. If elected, he believes he will need a lot of support and education.

Stringham, on the other hand, thinks Richer has done a great job. In a past interview with Arizona Family, he acknowledged that the process is not perfect, but said he would like to see some changes based on “facts, not fiction.” If someone has concerns about the election, Stringham wants to listen thoughtfully.

The Whitney Clark family in Arizona contributed to this report.

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