PHOENIX — Justin Heap is ahead by about 20,400 votes Wednesday morning in the Republican primary for Maricopa County recorder. The Associated Press has called the race for Heap.
As of 6 a.m., the unofficial results show Stephen Richer with 113,090 votes, Justin Heap with 133,561 votes and Don Hiatt with 68,563 votes.
Richer, who is running for a second term as the county recorder, has faced criticism from members of his own party for dispelling allegations of election fraud in Arizona.
State Rep. Justin Heap of Mesa seized on the first opportunity to unseat election officials who knocked down false claims about the 2020 and 2022 elections. He defeated both Stephen Richer, the incumbent, and information technology professor Donald Hiatt in the GOP primary for Maricopa County recorder.
Richer took office in early 2021 after unseating a Democratic incumbent. He drew criticism in some conservative circles for calling out former President Donald Trump and others for falsehoods about the 2020 election, which Joe Biden won in Arizona by 10,457 votes.
Richer was later criticized by Lake, who claimed her defeat in the 2022 governor’s race was due to election fraud. Even though her legal challenges were rejected by the courts, Lake continues to claim that Richer and other Maricopa County officials interfered in the election to prevent her from winning.
Richer later filed a defamation lawsuit against Lake, saying he faced “violent vitriol and other dire consequences” because of lies spread by Lake, including death threats and the loss of friendships.
Richer said he has done his best to defend the integrity of the election system in the face of falsehoods, has worked to clean up voter rolls and has been on the winning side of lawsuits that challenge election results.
The recorder’s office runs voter registration and early voting efforts in the state’s most populous county.
Heap stops short of saying the 2020 and 2022 elections were stolen but said thousands of Republicans voters don’t have faith in the county’s election operations. Like Hiatt, Heap said the county has insecure practices for handling early ballots.
Heap will face the race’s lone Democrat, attorney Tim Stringham, in the Nov. 5 general election.
During a debate earlier this year, Heap and Hiatt attacked Richer for not running a transparent office and Richer defended his record by describing his office as a law-abiding agency.
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