On your ballot: Arizona Attorney General and Maricopa County Attorney
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Illustration: Rebecca Zisser/Axios
Voters will elect a new state attorney general and Maricopa County attorney, the two most important prosecutors in Arizona.
- Current AG Mark Brnovich is running for U.S. Senate.
- The late Maricopa County Attorney Allister Adel resigned in March. The Board of Supervisors appointed Rachel Mitchell to take over. She is running to keep the position.
Why it matters: Past attorneys general have represented the state in court on issues such as immigration and abortion rights and have prosecuted consumer fraud and white collar crime cases.
- County attorneys prosecute almost all criminal cases and decide whether police officers face charges in use-of-force cases.
Details: There are six Republicans running for attorney general. The winner will face former Arizona Corporation Commissioner Kris Mayes in the general election.
- Abe Hamadeh is a former Maricopa County prosecutor and Army intelligence officer. He was endorsed by former President Donald Trump and told The Arizona Republic he would take on the "radical left" and "weak-kneed Republicans."
- Andrew Gould, a former Arizona Supreme Court justice, is promoting a "No Trespassing Zone" border security plan, saying on his website he would take "aggressive action to restore law and order on our border."
- Lacy Cooper, the border security section chief for the U.S. Attorney's Office during the Trump administration, is similarly focused on border security, saying on her website, "We must use whatever resources necessary to secure our physical border with Mexico."
- Business executive Dawn Grove is focused on federal overreach "by the Biden/Harris Administration into our families, faith, freedom and free enterprise," she said on her website.
- Rodney Glassman, a U.S. Air Force judge advocate general who has run unsuccessfully for many public offices, is campaigning on the slogan "My job is to protect you from the government."
- Tiffany Shedd, an attorney in Pinal County, is focused on border security and Second Amendment rights, saying on her website, "I would not give an inch on the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution or Arizona's constitutional right to bear arms."
There are two Republican Maricopa County attorney candidates. The winner will face Democrat Julie Gunnigle, who lost to Adel in 2020.
- Appointed County Attorney Rachel Mitchell is asking voters to let her keep the job. She's a veteran of the office who gained national attention as the GOP investigative counsel during Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh's nomination hearing.
- Gina Godbehere is the former Goodyear city prosecutor and spent 25 years with the county attorney's office, where she helped develop the first juvenile drug court.
Be smart: The primary election is Aug. 2. Early voting is already underway.