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Election Denier Wins G.O.P. Nomination to Be Arizona’s Top Election Official
The New York Times • • nation
Key Points:
- State Representative Alexander Kolodin won the Republican primary for Arizona secretary of state and will face Democratic incumbent Adrian Fontes in the November election.
- Kolodin, an Ivy League-educated lawyer, has echoed former President Trump's unfounded claims of 2020 election fraud and was backed by hard-right groups like Turning Point USA.
- Kolodin defeated Gina Swoboda, a former Arizona GOP chairwoman who was initially endorsed by Trump for Congress but did not receive his endorsement after switching to the secretary of state race.
- Kolodin has a history of challenging election results on behalf of Trump allies and was censured by the state bar for filing cases in bad faith; he supports requiring ID verification for mail-in ballots.
- Fontes, who won the 2022 election by about four points against another election denier, will seek reelection amid a highly competitive political environment in the swing state.
