The state legislator and political newcomer is trying to defeat incumbent Steven Richer in the July 30 Republican primary for Maricopa County Recorder.

While county recorder elections don't usually attract as much attention as this one, Maricopa County and its elections have intermittently drawn national attention since 2020, when Donald Trump and some of his supporters alleged that the election was stolen from several states, including Arizona.

Additionally, Maricopa County is home to more than 60 percent of Arizona's population and is the fourth-largest county in the country, making the role of the Maricopa County Recorder more important than in many other counties.

Richter has faced constant criticism and harassment from election conspiracy theorists since he took office in 2021 and began defending Maricopa County's elections. Defamation lawsuit Republican U.S. Senate candidate Kali Lake for falsely accusing him of fraud in the 2022 election after losing the gubernatorial race to Democrat Katie Hobbs.

One of Richer's opponents is Rep. Justin Heaps of Mesa, who is up for election to the Arizona House of Representatives in 2022 and is a member of the far-right Arizona Freedom Caucus.

Both Mr. Heap and Mr. Richer are lawyers.

The third candidate, Don Hiatt, is a political newcomer with a background in information technology and describes himself as the only “MAGA” candidate in the race.

Heap has been endorsed by Lake and Arizona Reps. Andy Biggs, Paul Gosar and Eli Klain, members of the House Freedom Caucus, while Richer has the backing of more traditional Republicans, including former Gov. Jan Brewer and former Gov. Doug Ducey.

Heap has not said publicly that he believes the 2020 and 2022 elections were stolen from Republican candidates like Lake and Trump, but his comments before the House Local Oversight and Elections Committee and his voting record on controversial election integrity bills suggest he does. Speak for yourself.

Heap said: Prohibit electronic counting Ballot papers and Force counting,it is Remove an option To Vote early For most Arizonans, this would mean a ban on using vote centers. Replaced by district upper limit 1,000 registered voters Each.

These are all ideas inspired by conspiracy theories about election fraud.

Every single Arizona county is opposed to the proposals, and elections officials have widely criticized them as completely unworkable.

“Maricopa County elections have become a laughing stock,” Heap said. Posts On February 28, he posted on the social media site X (formerly Twitter) “Voter trust is at an all-time low. Enough is enough. I am running for Recorder to restore honesty, transparency and integrity to our elections.”

In Maricopa County, the recorder is responsible for managing early mail-in voting and maintaining the voter registration database, while the county's Board of Supervisors oversees in-person voting and counting.

When Richer ran for recorder in 2020, he released a lengthy report on the county's election administration in the 2018 election, which was then led by current Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, a Democrat. But soon after taking office, Richer began defending the legitimacy of the county's election practices and results amid allegations of election rigging and voter fraud. Partisan “audit” now deemed wrong Maricopa County election results ordered by Republicans in the state senate.

Hyatt has criticized Heap for refusing to say whether he believes past elections have been rigged. But both Hyatt and Heap have boasted about a similar plan of action once in office, which they claim will include preventing fraud, improving election security and transparency, and cleaning up voter rolls. Heap has also promised to produce faster election results, which he does not have full control over as county recorder.

Richter is running on a track record of cleaning up voter rolls, traditional conservatism and openness and transparency in the electoral process.

The winner of the Republican primary will face off against Democratic candidate Timothy Stringham in November.