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The Associated Press has called Arizona’s secretary of state election for incumbent Adrian Fontes, which means he will oversee the 2028 presidential election in the key swing state.
As of Wednesday at 8 a.m. Mountain Time, with 83% of the expected vote reporting, Fontes, a Democrat, had nearly 55% of the vote. His opponent, Republican Alex Kolodin, had about 44%. Duwayne Collier, the Green Party candidate for the seat, had captured about 1% of the vote.
The secretary of state is the top election official in Arizona. They play a critical role in issuing guidance to county election offices and dictating how voting must be run via the state’s election rulebook. They also typically act as a spokesperson for elections in the state and are on the front lines of election-related interactions with the federal government.
Recent elections for secretary of state have been a microcosm of the yearslong struggle between those who trust the integrity of Arizona elections and those who have cast doubt on it, dating back to conspiracy theories about the 2020 election. This year, the race unfolded against the backdrop of federal efforts to exert unprecedented influence on elections in key battleground states across the nation, including Arizona.
Fontes, a lawyer and former Maricopa County recorder who has spent years championing the state’s voting system, has resisted the federal government’s efforts to scrutinize Arizona’s voting process, including by refusing to hand over the state’s voter roll to the U.S. Department of Justice. On the campaign trail, he promoted himself as a defender of democratic norms and an important bulwark to keep President Donald Trump’s administration in check.
Kolodin, an attorney and state lawmaker who previously brought a lawsuit that baselessly alleged the 2020 election was stolen from Trump, previously called the Justice Department’s request for the state’s voter roll “common sense.” He also said that, if elected, he would require county recorders to run their full voter lists through an unreliable federal data tool known as Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, or SAVE, to check for noncitizens.
Kolodin has repeatedly said voters don’t trust elections, heavily criticized local election officials, and lambasted the state’s voting systems as dysfunctional before attempting to moderate his image after winning the GOP nomination in the state primary.
Fontes’ victory came as initial returns showed Democrats leading up and down the ballot. While not all races have been called, his party looks poised to take control of both chambers of the Arizona Legislature. Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs had also won a second term as of early Wednesday, per the Associated Press. That Democratic trifecta — the first in Arizona since 1966 — could give Fontes increased leverage to push for changes to voting laws and procedures in Arizona.
Fontes and Kolodin did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Sasha Hupka is a reporter for Votebeat based in Arizona. Contact Sasha at shupka@votebeat.org.
