Maricopa County Recorder

The Legislature has delegated the authority for running elections to the Secretary of State, through the Election Procedures Manual, and then to the county recorders. This post should be ministerial, but, in fact, it has enormous law-making power. The case that elections are corrupted is familiar, and does not need to be repeated here. Don Hiatt was the first to make the additional argument that precinct-level hand counting would also save money. His website is here.

There are two other candidates in the Republican primary:

  • Justin Heap (Republican)
  • Stephen Richer (the incumbent, registered as a Republican)

A third Republican candidate, Claire Van Steenwyk, withdrew Mar 12 and endorsed Hiatt. You will notice a familiar pattern: There is only one Democrat candidate, and three Republicans. The Uniparty may not care whether Heap or Richer (or Stringham, the Democrat) wins, but having many candidates provides a narrative for Hiatt’s defeat. Heap entered the race late, with lots of money and the endorsement of leading Republicans. He purchased many if not most of his 8,106 signatures while Hiatt gathered his 7,324 signatures at no cost, using volunteers. Because Heap has the backing of the establishment, he can claim to be ‘electable.’ Hiatt poses a real threat to Uniparty control of the election machinery. If he were to run alone against Richer, it might be hard to explain why he lost. With Heap in the race, the narrative can be that Heap and Hiatt split the anti-Richer vote, allowing Richer to win.

When Heap decided to enter the race for county recorder, he was serving as Representative in the Legislature for District 10 and planning to run for re-election. Replacing him on the primary ballot will be his father, Ralph.

I will vote for Hiatt, the only outsider, on Election Day.