Adrian Fontes wins Democratic nomination in secretary of state primary race

PHOENIX (AP) -- Former Maricopa County Recorder Adrian Fontes has won the Democratic nomination for Arizona secretary of state. Additional returns released Thursday night show Fontes is so far ahead of House Minority Leader Reginald Bolding that remaining ballots give Bolding no chance to catch up. He will face Donald Trump-backed and election conspiracy theorist GOP state Rep. Mark Finchem in November.

The Associated Press called the race after Fontes was up 53% to Bolding’s 47%. Fontes was elected county recorder in 2016 and this year, campaigned on his experience running elections. He lost his re-election bid in 2020 to the current county recorder, Stephen Richer. Fontes said if he was elected, he promised to work with state lawmakers to expand access to voting. He was also in support of posting images of ballots online, saying it could be a way to boost confidence in elections.

“Thank you, Arizona! Let’s protect democracy this November!” Fontes tweeted shortly after the announcement.

Finchem is a supporter of former Trump who believes the false narrative that the 2020 election was stolen from him and was at Trump’s Jan. 6, 2021, rally that preceded the attack on the U.S. Capitol. Both Bolding and Fontes have warned that electing Finchem to the state’s top election post would be a danger to democracy.

Arizona’s Family News Staff contributed to this report.

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