Election deniers win key Arizona primaries, raising alarms with voting groups

Republican candidates who person espoused election-related conspiracy theories won respective primaries successful down-ballot races successful Arizona this week, successful what mainstream voting groups characterized arsenic a concerning inclination up of November's hotly contested election.

U.S. Senate campaigner Kari Lake, erstwhile authorities Sen. Sonny Borrelli and erstwhile Arizona caput of authorities campaigner Mark Finchem were among those who won their primaries. If they triumph successful November, they volition oversee pivotal administrative roles successful elections travel 2025.

"These results are accordant with what's happening astir the country, successful that determination are important efforts from radical who don't judge successful elections to instrumentality implicit the process, " said Alex Gulotta, the Arizona authorities manager for All Voting is Local, a nonprofit voting rights group.

"Folks should beryllium paying attraction to these tiny races, due to the fact that this is wherever the antiauthoritarian process takes place," Gulotta added.

Some voting rights advocates feared predetermination deniers would mire this week's Arizona contests successful challenges. Those disputes did not materialize, successful part, advocates suspect, due to the fact that those doubters recovered themselves connected the winning extremity of respective cardinal superior races. 

Secretary of State Adrian Fontes' bureau refused to remark connected circumstantial races, but a typical from his bureau told CBS News: "Election denialism undermines ideology and determination is nary evidence, nor has determination been evidence, of predetermination wide-spread fraud."

Among the astir consequential results from Tuesday's primaries came erstwhile voters unseated Stephen Richer, the Maricopa County Recorder who had go an outspoken professional of predetermination deniers. Richer mislaid to authorities Rep. Justin Heap, who is aligned with Arizona's right-wing Freedom Caucus.

Heap has refused to accidental if helium thinks Maricopa's elections are escaped and fair. He has been endorsed by Lake, a predominant purveyor of outlandish conspiracies surrounding the 2020 and 2022 elections. Lake won her Senate superior by much than 16 points connected Tuesday. 

Lake, who has inactive not officially conceded the loss of her 2022 gubernatorial bid, inactive adheres to the mendacious assertion that that predetermination was "rigged." She volition look Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego successful the wide predetermination for Arizona's U.S. Senate contention this fall. 

Maricopa has been astatine the halfway of an progressive predetermination conspiracy question riddled with harassment and threats of unit targeting predetermination workers. Those activists targeted Richer, who has worked arsenic recorder since 2020, for his relation administering the 2020 and 2022 elections. Earlier this year, a leader of the Maricopa County GOP said she would "lynch him" if helium walked into the room. In a abstracted episode, the Department of Justice Elections Threats Task Force indicted a Missouri man for leaving a threatening voicemail for Richer, successful which the antheral allegedly told Richer helium would "never marque it to his adjacent small committee meeting."

Maricopa County is simply a sharply divided and hotly contested plaything region that could play a pivotal relation successful the 2024 statesmanlike contest. Encompassing Phoenix and its heavy populated suburbs, it is location to much than 60% of registered voters successful Arizona. If denier candidates triumph their wide elections successful November, they volition person important sway implicit the ways aboriginal elections determination are administered, voting rights activists told CBS News. 

The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, which appoints the predetermination manager and oversees respective aspects of the voting process, is poised for a shake-up. Jack Sellers, a Republican connected the Board of Supervisors who was a defender of Maricopa's elections, mislaid his spot to Mark Stewart, who has questioned the predetermination process in Maricopa. 

Elsewhere successful Arizona, Borrelli, the erstwhile authorities senator, defeated incumbent Buster Johnson for a spot connected the Mohave County Board of Supervisors. Mohave is simply a blimpish region whose elections committee attempted to manus number ballots for the statesmanlike superior and wide predetermination aft a sustained unit run from authorities officials successful 2022, including Borrelli, who was successful the legislature astatine the time. Johnson was 1 of the fewer Republicans connected the committee who voted against hand-counting ballots. 

Mark Finchem, who was a Trump-endorsed campaigner for caput of state, won his superior for a authorities legislative seat. Finchem has played an integral relation successful the question to subvert the 2020 and 2022 elections, and was reportedly 1 of 5 unindicted co-conspirators successful the fake electors case brought by the Arizona lawyer wide successful April. The authorities legislature helps acceptable the rules for elections and whitethorn see proposals to overhaul voting processes. If helium prevails successful the consistently blimpish region successful November's wide election, helium volition regenerate incumbent Ken Bennett, who blocked respective restrictive predetermination measures that the legislature has tried to walk since 2020.

If these candidates triumph their wide elections successful November, they volition beryllium sworn successful January 2025.