2024 Arizona Election: Stephen Richer defeated in 3-way GOP primary for Maricopa County Recorder
PHOENIX - Incumbent Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer was defeated in the Republican Party primary for the position.
Richer received around 35% of the vote behind Justin Heap, who received around 42%. The race was called early Wednesday morning.
Richer, who is the county's 30th recorder, was elected back in 2020, when he defeated then incumbent Adrian Fontes, a Democrat. Fontes went on to win the race for Arizona Secretary of State in 2022.
During his first term, Richer has defended Maricopa County's elections, pointing to zero court cases with rulings in favor of those claiming the election was stolen from former President Donald Trump.
Who else is running in the GOP primary?
The GOP primary for Maricopa County Recorder has three candidates: besides Richer, Justin Heap and Don W. Hiatt are running for the nomination.
We have reached out to Heap, Hiatt and Richer for interviews, but so far, none of them have agreed to do so.
Justin Heap
Heap is currently a representative for the state's 10th Legislative District, which covers a portion of Mesa and a small portion of Pinal County.
During a June debate, when Heap was asked if the election was stolen in 2020, he said there was not enough transparency in the office to make a definitive statement.
Don W. Hiatt
During the same debate mentioned above, Hiatt said the 2020 election was stolen.
On his campaign website, Hiatt called himself a "tried-and-true believer in The American Way and America First," and accused Richer of betraying Republicans by "breaking his promise to ‘Make the Recorder’s Office Boring Again."
Who's running in the Democratic primary?
There is only one candidate in the Democratic primary for County Recorder: Tim Stringham.
Stringham is a veteran and lawyer. On his website, he said he was born and raised in Arizona, and spent time serving in the military.
In an interview with Stringham, we asked him about his thoughts on the outcome of the 2022 election.
"Especially if you're Abe Hamadeh and you lost by 280 votes, that's crushing. You absolutely want to know that every single vote is valid. I think it's completely rational to ask for a recount to make sure that we have safe, secure processes. At some point, you need to either be able to present evidence, or you need to be mature and move on, and I understand that's not easy if you put your life for an entire year on the line running for something you believe in, but this is America. There will be another election. Have the maturity to move on and confront the reality, and go see if you can find 280 voters whose minds you can change," said Stringham.