Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes announces run for re-election
PHOENIX (AZFamily) — The state’s top election official launched his re-election bid on Thursday, saying the office still needs to regain the confidence of voters following recent elections.
Fontes was referring to the years of unproven claims that the 2020 and 2022 elections were not on the up-and-up.
“We’re on a really solid path,” Fontes told Arizona’s Family. “I think the voters have come to recognize that we are slowly but surely building back trust that was illegitimately lost.”
Fontes, a Democrat, is a fierce defender of the state’s election system and had a front row seat for the spread of election denialism.
He was the Maricopa County Recorder in 2020 when President Trump and his allies challenged the legitimacy of the election results. Two years later, he won the Secretary of State’s race, where he continued to push back against unproven claims of widespread fraud in that election.
Heading into 2026, Fontes said he believes the top issue will be fighting election denialism.
“I don’t think that has, morphed completely away yet. It has turned into something a little bit different. But we got to get folks understanding the truth,” Fontes said.
Recently, Fontes had flirted with running for another office. First, he had made some noise about challenging Gov. Katie Hobbs in the 2026 primary election. Later, it looked like Fontes was going to run for the congressional seat in southern Arizona that opened after longtime Rep. Raul Grijalva died from cancer.
Ultimately, Fontes didn’t run and said he is happy where he is right now.
Arizona Rep. Alexander Kolodin (R-LD 3) announced last month that he would also be running for secretary of state. Gina Swoboda, chairwoman of the Arizona GOP, is also considering running for the office.
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