Why a small midterm race in Arizona could have big consequences for U.S.
democracy
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[October 20, 2022]
By Tim Reid
(Reuters) - The fight to become Arizona’s
next attorney general in November’s midterm elections smashed
fundraising records this week. One major reason: the normally backwater
contest has potentially big implications for U.S. democracy, election
experts said.
Arizona is a kingmaker state in U.S. presidential elections, and under
Arizona law the attorney general must witness the certification of the
election result, has the power to challenge certifications in the courts
if they violate state law, and must approve the rulebook that governs
how elections are run.
Former President Donald Trump has endorsed the Republican attorney
general candidate Abe Hamadeh and appeared on stage with him. Hamadeh
has offered his own endorsement: a full-throated support for Trump's
false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him by President Joe
Biden.
As a result, a race usually viewed as an electoral afterthought has
attracted record amounts of money and attention from Democrats and
Republicans.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2022/Oct/20/images/ads/current/graue_sda_042021.png)
Democratic nominee Kris Mayes raised $1.25 million in the third quarter
of 2022, bringing her total amount of money received so far during the
2022 election cycle to $2.2 million, while Hamadeh raised $740,000
between July and September, bringing his total to nearly $1.8 million,
according to Arizona's office of Secretary of State.
That compares to a total haul of less then $2 million by both candidates
in 2018, then an Arizona record.
The fate of U.S. democracy is not the only reason money is pouring into
the race this year. The U.S. Supreme Court's decision to end a women's
constitutional right to an abortion triggered donations, and around the
country attorney general races are garnering more attention and money
generally because of their ability to enforce or block controversial
policies.
Trump's backing of Hamadeh is notable because it is unusual for a former
president to endorse an attorney general candidate. Amy Klobuchar, a
Democratic U.S. senator from Minnesota and a 2020 presidential
candidate, meanwhile, appeared at an event with Mayes last month.
Klobuchar told Reuters it was vital to elect officials, including
attorney generals, "that are critical frontline protection when it comes
to voting and elections."
The importance of the attorney-general race is underscored by polls
showing that Republicans Kari Lake, who is running for governor of
Arizona, and Mark Finchem, the secretary of state candidate, could win
this November. If victorious, they would have control over how votes are
counted and certified in a state Biden narrowly won in 2020.
Both have said that Biden's victory was fraudulent and Finchem, who was
outside the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021 attack by pro-Trump
supporters, has said he would not have certified Biden’s win if he had
held the office then.
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![](../images/102022PIX/news_k75.jpg)
Ranee Malanga greets cars pulling into
the parking lot during a rally for Arizona Republican gubernatorial
hopeful Kari Lake at The Maverick in Tucson, Arizona, U.S., July 12,
2022. REUTERS/Rebecca Noble/File Photo
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2019/Sep/05/images/ads/current/stclara_lda_SPONSOR_090519.png)
“I think that American democracy runs through the state of Arizona
in 2022,” Mayes said in an interview with Reuters.
AG EMPOWERED TO STEP IN
Hamadeh downplayed the role an attorney general has in election
certification in a statement to Reuters. Mayes is running a
"desperate" campaign "to undermine my commitment to our country and
our democratic processes," he said.
But at a July rally attended by Trump, Hamadeh made comments
strongly suggesting he viewed the position as pivotal in the
election process.
"Arizona right now needs a warrior as attorney general. I will fight
to secure our elections so when Donald Trump runs again and wins in
2024 everyone will know it’s legitimate.”
Dozens of Republicans who support Trump's false claims of fraud have
been nominated for local and state offices across the country this
November, potentially placing them in charge of their state's 2024
presidential elections. This has brought unprecedented attention to
down-ballot races in battleground states like Arizona, Michigan and
Pennsylvania.
Lawrence Douglas, an election law expert at Amherst College, said
Arizona’s attorney general race has become one of the central
contests in the fight against deniers of the 2020 presidential
election result. Biden won Arizona by just 12,000 votes.
“What look like these relatively inconsequential races will have
enormous consequences in terms of the 2024 presidential election,”
Douglas said.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2022/Oct/20/images/ads/current/LPL_small%201.gif)
Tammy Patrick, a former federal compliance officer in the Maricopa
County Elections Department - Arizona's most populous county - said
the attorney general is a vital position if either the governor or
secretary of state attempt to certify a result that does not reflect
the true vote total.
"If you have office holders who are trying to change the outcome of
the election through the certification process, it's incumbent on
the attorney general to step in because they have sworn to uphold
the laws of Arizona and the United States," Patrick said.
Stefanie Lindquist, a law and political professor at Arizona State
University, said the attorney general has the authority to sue to
enforce the state's election laws "through civil or criminal
actions."
(Reporting Tim Reid in Los Angeles, Editing by Ross Colvin and
Alistair Bell)
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