Democratic newcomer Tim Stringham on Wednesday congratulated Republican state Rep. Justin Heap, who Stringham said is “likely to win” in the race for Maricopa County recorder.

Stringham admitted. in post On social media site X (formerly Twitter), he said there were still many votes to be counted, saying “the outcome is not decided” but adding: “I hate procrastination.”

As of around 3:30 a.m. Wednesday, nearly 65% ​​of the votes had been counted, with Mr. Heap receiving 51.8% of the vote, more than 3 points behind Mr. Stringham’s 48.2%.

Heap declared victory Wednesday, saying he was “honored and humbled.”

“I appreciate the confidence that voters have placed in me,” Heap said. wrote in a statement “Protecting the integrity of our elections is an issue that affects us all, so I intend to fulfill my promise to be a registrar for all voters. There is no doubt that the election has tarnished our county’s reputation and made us a laughing stock of the nation.”

Mr. Heap went on to pledge to work with the state Legislature to develop an agenda to make elections more efficient and honest, and to release election results more quickly.

During his time in the Arizona House of Representatives, Heap supported several bills based on unproven election fraud conspiracy theories. Prohibition of electronic tabulation ballot paper and Forced hand countand that is option removed to early voting For most Arizonans.

The race for Maricopa County Recorder is focused on election integrity in a county that has long been a hotbed of election conspiracy theories, including the “Big Lie” that the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump. Ta.

In the July 30 Republican primary, Heap defeated outgoing Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer, who has repeatedly insisted that the county’s elections are free, fair and transparent, leading to many like-minded people. He faced hatred and ridicule from party members.

The heap is consistently refused to admit The question is whether he believes, like several allies in the far-right Arizona Freedom Caucus, that the 2020 and 2022 elections were stolen from leading Republican candidates. Mr. Heap credits Republican Sen. Jake Hoffman, leader of the Freedom Caucus, for his support and encouragement throughout his campaign and Mr. Hoffman’s role as “the chief architect of my campaign strategy.” He praised his work.

Hoffman is one of 18 fake electors in Arizona was indicted in April for scheme It was intended to install Donald Trump, who lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden, as president.

In his victory statement, Heap said he has good reason for his plan to work with the Arizona Legislature to make changes to the state’s election procedures. Many of the changes he has proposed, including having complete results on election night, are outside the control of the state Legislature. Maricopa County Recorder.

last month, KJZZ reported The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, whose members have faced similar outrage directed at Richer for defending the county’s elections, has voted to take some election responsibilities away from the recorder’s office. That’s what it means.

The board unanimously approved an agreement with Richer on Oct. 23 that changes the division of election duties between the board and the recorder’s office. The transition will take place on Dec. 10, less than a month before Heap takes office.

Supervisors did not publicly discuss or comment on the agreement during the meeting, with spokesperson Fields Moseley telling the Arizona Mirror that the changes to the registrar’s election duties would be particularly important to the IT department. This was done to increase efficiency, he said. .

Moseley declined to answer questions from the Mirror about the timing of the decision to change the position of Maricopa County recorder less than two months before the person who requested hand-counting of ballots takes office. Moseley also declined to comment on what prompted the decision to review the division of election duties or how long regulators had been considering the change.

of agreement Additionally, the Board of Directors and outgoing Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer transferred responsibility for the Recorder’s information technology services for both elections and records from the Recorder’s Office to the Board of Supervisors.

A $5 million budget for Recorder IT services will also be transferred to the board.

Per the agreement, the new recorder will continue to be responsible for maintaining voter registration rolls, receiving early voting applications, verifying and restoring signatures on early voting affidavits, and complying with the Uniformed and Overseas National Absentee Voting Act. .

The Supervisory Board discussed the planned changes during part of a closed session on October 21st. Under Arizona law, closed sessions of public meetings are only permitted in certain circumstances, in this case for the dissemination of legal advice.

Several attorneys from the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office and county elections director Scott Jarrett were all involved in the conversation, according to the meeting agenda.

Mr Stringham said he ran only to get Mr Heap away from the recorder’s office, but acknowledged on Wednesday that his opponent was likely to win.

“I did call. @azjustinheap I would like to congratulate both of us on completing a long campaign and wish him the best of luck in his anticipated victory in the County Recorder race,” Stringham wrote in a post on X. So everyone relax, take a deep breath, and then help us cure the ballots. ”