County recorder Richer readies re-election run in GOP primary
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Maricopa County recorder Stephen Richer speaks to reporters at the Maricopa County Tabulation and Elections Center on Nov. 9, 2022. Photo: Olivier Touron/AFP via Getty Images
Maricopa County recorder Stephen Richer has taken a lot of flak from his fellow Republicans over the past three years, but as he moves forward with his re-election campaign, it's unclear what kind of challenge he might face in the GOP primary.
Driving the news: Richer told Axios Phoenix he'll file his statement of interest for the Republican primary in the new year.
- He hasn't yet filed the public document that's required to begin collecting signatures to qualify for the ballot, prompting questions about his plans.
Context: Republicans who promote conspiracy theories about the past two elections and falsely contend they were rigged against former President Trump and other GOP candidates have been implacably hostile to Richer — a staunch defender of the county's election system.
- Richer has received death threats and been the subject of baseless allegations and conspiracy theories.
- Rumors have floated around that he might run as an independent to avoid a primary challenge.
State of play: It's unclear whether he'll face a challenge in the GOP primary.
- A Republican named Steven Hines filed a statement of interest in June, but told Axios Phoenix he's no longer running and he'll attempt to recruit a new primary opponent for Richer.
- GOP election attorney Jennifer Wright had been a suggested challenger for Richer, but she told us it's just "rumors mixed with a lot of wishful thinking."
Zoom in: Richer said some of the people he's clashed with most since taking office are Republicans, and he's gained a lot of support from outside the GOP. But his polling shows net favorability among primary voters.
- He expects about 400,000 people to vote in the GOP primary.
- "I think a lot of people just appreciate somebody who upholds conservative values and runs the office. That's what I am," Richer said.
What he's saying: "Moments like that impress upon me sort of the gravity of the moment, and the ability to be part of a larger conversation happening in Arizona and the U.S.," Richer said about why he's running for re-election.
- He said he also wants to continue supporting the roughly 170 people who work in Maricopa County elections.
Meanwhile, Democrat Tim Stringham, a U.S. Army and Navy veteran who attended Notre Dame law school, is running after being courted by Maricopa County Democratic Party leaders.
- He served with the Army in Afghanistan and oversaw programs to promote human rights and the rule-of-law in Africa as a Judge Advocate General's Corps officer in the Navy.
- Stringham is a political newcomer who called the Jan. 6 attack on Congress while he was still on active duty a "wake-up call."
- Stringham said he has doubts about Richer's viability in the GOP primary, and criticized him for his work on an Arizona Republican Party-commissioned audit that aired conspiracy theories about the 2018 election.
The other side: Richer defended his work on the audit, but said "some people might have taken the assignment and what I did and worked it into a narrative that was far different than what we aimed to do."
- "I don't know how anyone could see what I've gone through for the last three years and say, like, 'This guy is contributing to this just for politics,'" he said.