PHOENIX (AP) 鈥� Justin Heap, a Republican state legislator who questioned the administration of elections in Arizona鈥檚 most populous county, has been elected to oversee the vote as Maricopa County Recorder.
Heap could dramatically alter the way elections are handled in Maricopa County, the fourth-largest U.S. county with a population of some 4.5 million and a hotbed of conspiracy theories about the vote following President-elect Donald Trump鈥檚 loss in 2020.
His Democratic challenger was Tim Stringham, who served in the military, first in the Army and then the Navy as an attorney in the Judge Advocate General鈥檚 Corps. Stringham conceded defeat and congratulated Heap on Wednesday.
The path to victory began with over the current Recorder Stephen Richer in the July Republican primary.
Richer has endured harassment 鈥� even death threats 鈥� and a flood of misinformation while defending the legitimacy of the vote over four years in one of the nation鈥檚 most closely watched political battlegrounds. His office fought off criticism over the results of the , as Trump and his supporters that widespread fraud cost him the race.
The recorder鈥檚 office splits election duties with the county Board of Supervisors, whose members were similarly attacked when they defended the county鈥檚 elections.
Heap has stopped short of saying the 2020 and 2022 elections were stolen, but he has said the state鈥檚 practices for handling early ballots are insecure and has questioned how ballots are transported, handled and stored after they are submitted. Earlier this year, Heap proposed an unsuccessful bill to remove Arizona from to maintain voter lists.
鈥淚 am humbled and honored to have been elected as the next Maricopa County Recorder,鈥� Heap said in a victory statement Wednesday, shortly after Stringham conceded. 鈥淚 intend to fulfill my promise of being a Recorder for every voter because protecting the integrity of our elections is an issue that impacts us all.鈥�
He said he would work with the state Legislature to help 鈥渞estore Maricopa County to its rightful place as the preeminent leader in elections management in all of America.鈥�
Stringham posted on the social platform X that he called Heap 鈥渢o congratulate him on a long campaign completed for both of us and wish him luck.鈥�
Anita Snow, The Associated Press
