PHOENIX (AP) — Justin Heap, a Republican state lawmaker who questioned the administration of elections in Arizona’s most populous county, has been chosen to oversee the vote as Maricopa County Recorder.
Heap could dramatically change the way elections are handled in Maricopa County, the fourth-largest U.S. county with about 4.5 million residents and a hotbed of conspiracy theories about the vote following President-elect Donald Trump’s 2020 loss.
His Democratic challenger was Tim Stringham, who served in the military, first in the Army and then in the Navy as an attorney in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps. Stringham conceded defeat and congratulated Heap on Wednesday.
The path to victory began with a victory over incumbent recorder Stephen Richer in the July Republican primary.
Richer has faced intimidation — even death threats — and a flood of disinformation as he spent four years defending the legitimacy of the election in one of the country’s most closely watched political battlefields. His office pushed back against criticism of the 2020 presidential election results as Trump and his supporters falsely claimed widespread fraud cost him the race.
The notary’s office shares election duties with the county Board of Supervisors, whose members were similarly attacked while defending the county’s elections.
Heap has not said the 2020 and 2022 elections were stolen, but he has said the state’s practices for handling early ballots are uncertain 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 a multi-state effort to maintain voter rolls.
“I am humbled and honored to have been selected as the next Maricopa County Recorder,” Heap said in a victory statement Wednesday, shortly after Stringham conceded. “I intend to make good on my promise to be a Recorder for every voter, because protecting the integrity of our elections is an issue that affects us all.”
He said he would work with the state Legislature to help “Maricopa County restore its rightful place as the preeminent leader in election administration in all of America.”
Stringham posted on the social platform
