AZ Secretary Race Heats Up
Alexander Kolodin Wins Arizona GOP Secretary of State Primary Against Gina Swoboda
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Key Points
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Kolodin was placed on 18 months of probation by the State Bar of Arizona for meritless lawsuits challenging the 2020 and 2022 election results.
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Fontes compelled the release of a list of more than 200,000 voters whose citizenship had not been verified as part of his push for enhanced identity verification.
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Swoboda is a former elections worker and a former Democrat turned Republican who was at one point endorsed by Donald Trump for a congressional bid before focusing on secretary of state.
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Critics warn that Kolodin's voter-ID proposals could decimate the state's mail voting system by making ID a prerequisite for casting ballots.
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Fontes defeated a Trump-endorsed opponent in 2022 and continues to oversee elections, a contrast to Kolodin's insurgent approach and his past election-law challenges.
Arizona Republican voters picked state Rep. Alexander Kolodin as their nominee for secretary of state on Tuesday, defeating former state GOP Chair Gina Swoboda. With roughly 65% of ballots counted, Kolodin led 58.2% to 41.8%, according to AZ Mirror. He will now face Democratic incumbent Adrian Fontes in November.
Kolodin is a far-right election attorney who has spent years challenging the 2020 and 2022 Arizona election results in court. The State Bar of Arizona placed him on 18 months of probation for filing meritless lawsuits. His win sets up one of the most contentious secretary of state races in the country.
Kolodin's Record: Lawsuits, Probation, and Trump Support
Kolodin has repeatedly challenged Arizona election results without success. Judges rebuked him multiple times, and the State Bar placed him on 18 months of probation for those meritless lawsuits. Despite that record, he won backing from Turning Point USA and several Arizona Republican members of Congress, KTAR reported.
His campaign framed the legal fights as proof he is ready for the job. Kolodin argued he has already been performing the role of secretary of state by winning election-law cases. Critics disagree sharply, calling him an election denier who would use the office to undermine future results.
Kolodin's Ballot ID Plan Could Gut Mail Voting
Kolodin authored the Arizona Secure Elections Act. The proposal would require a government-issued ID for every ballot cast, including mail ballots. It would also add a citizen-only voting requirement to the state constitution and allow ballot tabulation directly at polling places, according to AZ Mirror.
Critics warn the ID requirement for mail ballots could effectively end Arizona's widespread early voting system. Arizona relies heavily on mail voting, and adding a new ID step for each ballot could block hundreds of thousands of voters. Kolodin also pushed for legally binding identity-verification rules for early voters.
Fontes Holds a Massive Cash Advantage Heading Into November
Incumbent Adrian Fontes raised more than $519,000 in the second quarter alone and had over $1 million cash on hand by the end of June. Kolodin raised about $73,000 in the same period and had roughly $292,000 on hand, KTAR reported. That is a more than 3-to-1 cash advantage for Fontes.
Fontes won the office in 2022 by defeating a Trump-endorsed opponent. He has since pushed for stronger citizenship verification, compelling the release of a list of more than 200,000 voters whose citizenship had not been confirmed. That move gave him some common ground with Republicans on voter ID, even as he opposes Kolodin's broader proposals.
Swoboda's Loss Ends the Moderate GOP Alternative
Gina Swoboda ran as the more measured choice. She is a former elections worker and onetime Democrat who later joined the Republican Party. Donald Trump had previously endorsed her for a congressional bid. She shifted her focus to the secretary of state race and positioned herself as an administrative expert rather than a fighter, KYMA reported.
Her loss leaves Arizona Republicans with Kolodin as their standard-bearer on elections — a candidate whose past the state bar has formally sanctioned. The November race will be a sharp contrast: an incumbent Democrat with deep cash reserves against a GOP insurgent backed by the party's far-right base in a state that decides national elections.
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