PHOENIX – Incumbent Stephen Richer has been ousted in the Republican primary for Maricopa County recorder, a move that could have major implications for how the election is run in the nation’s most tightly contested district.
When the Associated Press announced the race Wednesday morning, state Rep. Justin Heap had 42.4 percent to 35.9 percent for Richer. Information management technology candidate Don Hiatt received 21.8% of the vote.
Richer has been an outspoken defender of the swing state’s election process, which was forced back against unsubstantiated voter fraud allegations that surfaced after the 2020 and 2022 races.
Heap, who has been critical of Maricopa elections in past years, dodged questions about whether the 2020 election was rigged. He has been backed by many prominent Arizona Republicans who refused to accept Joe Biden’s victory four years ago, including Kari Lake, who is running for the U.S. Senate this year after a failed 2022 gubernatorial campaign.
“I’m supporting Justin Heap for Maricopa County recorder because we want honest elections,” Lake said at a campaign event in Goodyear, Arizona, in June. “We need a lot of integrity in our elections.”
The primary job for a Maricopa County recorder is a typically sleepy job, with an extensive administrative role that includes processing cases and overseeing the voter file and other parts of the election. But the competition has heated up this year as Maricopa, the largest state in the main battleground, has emerged as a hotbed for allegations of unsubstantiated voter fraud.
After ballot printers and vote counting machines malfunctioned during the 2022 Arizona election, unsubstantiated allegations of malicious activity surfaced, and conspiracy theories about Reacher resulted in Reacher receiving death threats.
Richer continued to face multiple attacks. Last month he Posted a video on X Shelby Busch, chairwoman of the Arizona delegation to the 2024 Republican National Convention, said she would “lynch” him if she had the chance. The video originated from a March 20 event broadcast live on Rumble, a conservative video platform in Mesa.
Three GOP candidates of record confronted in a dispute in late June and argued that Heap Richer’s record tarnished Arizona nationally.
“I ran for this office because the Maricopa County election made us a national laughing stock,” Heap said in a debate in late June.
Heap will now face Democrat Tim Stringham, who ran unopposed in his party’s primary, in the general election.