The famous Maricopa County, Arizona , has one local elected official who can’t seem to have a calm year. Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer has been in the spotlight for two years. Richer is the elected official in charge of overseeing elections in the county, along with the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors. He has become a target for many Arizona Republicans because, despite being a Republican himself, he has stood up for the integrity of elections and corrected baseless conspiracy theories about widespread fraud. He’s also up for reelection in the July 30 primary election.
Richer sued former gubernatorial candidate and now Senate candidate Kari Lake in 2023 for defamation following her claim that she lost her 2022 race because of fraud. Lawyers defending Lake asked a judge to schedule a hearing to determine what, if any, damages are owed to Richer. Richer said in a statement following the trial, “Because of their actions, my family and I have faced an endless barrage of threats — including calls for our execution — I have lost close personal relationships, and I have had my reputation irreparably damaged. I have said from the beginning that no one is above the rule of law, and today further validates that belief.”
Recently, Richer has been the target of death threats. At an event in March for a GOP congressional candidate, Shelby Busch, the first vice chairwoman of the Maricopa County Republican Committee, spoke about the importance of “good, Christian” people finding “unity.” She then said , “But if Stephen Richer walked in this room, I would lynch him. I don’t unify with people who don’t believe in the principles we believe in and the American cause that founded this country. And so I want to make that clear when we talk about what it means to unify.” The video went viral after Richer shared it as soon as he received it and posted it on X on June 24. This brought the local Jewish community to Richer’s defense, as he is also Jewish.
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Richer is a Republican. He represents a split in the party between institutionalists and Trump Republicans. He can win this election. He is vying against two others, but the race as a whole shows the fractures that need to be healed in the party. You have one candidate who said the elections were stolen and attempted to lay blame on Mark Zuckerberg. You have another candidate who said election rules were not followed and that citizens have a right to be skeptical about the results.
This election will show if the party can still keep a hold of this other flank or if the party has changed to exclude it. My prediction is that Richer will prevail. Arizonans have rebuked Lake once for her claims over the election when they failed to elect her to the governorship. Arizona grand juries have been called to investigate fake electors, and they are in the process of achieving justice. Richer will prevail, and so will normalcy.
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