Kris Mayes' legal approach under spotlight in 2026 Arizona AG race
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Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes will run for reelection next year. Photo: Mario Tama/Getty Images
Attorney General Kris Mayes has leaned into the role of a President Trump antagonist — setting up what could be the nation's most expensive attorney general race.
Why it matters: Fighting against "unconstitutional" actions by the federal government is an important part of the attorney general's job, her campaign told us; but it could be politically dangerous, Republicans and even some Democrats warn.
Catch up quick: Mayes defeated now-U.S. Rep. Abe Hamadeh, endorsed by Trump, by 280 votes in 2022.
- Since taking office, she's filed more than two dozen lawsuits against the Trump administration, challenging federal grant cancellation, an attempt to end birthright citizenship, the withholding of SNAP benefits and myriad other policies.
State of play: Rodney Glassman, an attorney who lost in the 2022 AG Republican primary, and state Senate President Warren Petersen are vying for the Republican nomination.
- Both entered the race with a similar message: Mayes has focused on prosecuting her political opponents instead of protecting Arizonans.
What they're saying: Mayes campaign strategist DJ Quinlan said he'd be glad to see Petersen and Glassman stick with that "miscalculated" strategy, noting that Mayes' campaign will highlight the totality of her work, including consumer issues like her opposition to the Kroger-Albertsons merger and utility rate hikes.
- "[Mayes] is focused on delivering justice and delivering fairness to Arizonans of all political stripes," Quinlan told Axios.
Zoom in: Former Democratic Attorney General Terry Goddard, who served two terms from 2003 to 2011, told Axios he focused on consumer protection issues in his reelection campaign and he thinks a similar strategy will serve Mayes well.
The other side: Republican political lobbyist Marcus Dell'Artino told us he has a hard time seeing how Mayes' campaign can pivot from the anti-Trump messaging she's embodied.
- "You either have to embrace it or stop doing it, but you can't say [suing the administration is] not defining your campaign," Dell'Artino said.
- He said Mayes' constant drumbeat of Trump-adjacent lawsuits is a risky bet because it could isolate the independents and moderate Republicans she needs to win.
Threat level: Republican lobbyist and consultant Brian Murray said Mayes is the most vulnerable of the statewide Democrats and noted she's taken "the most non-tried-and-true approach to winning reelection," in contrast with Hobbs, who's tried to appeal more to the center.
What we're watching: Mayes must decide in the coming weeks how to proceed with the case she brought against Arizona's so-called "fake electors" from the 2020 election.
- The grand jury indictment she secured last year was thrown out by a Maricopa County judge in May for procedural reasons.
- Choosing to continue with the case will give her opponents another opportunity to accuse her of partisan legal warfare — but abandoning it now will burn her base.