Alexander Kolodin, who tried to overturn Arizona election results, wins GOP nod for secretary of state

Republican state Rep. Alexander Kolodin will face Arizona’s Democratic secretary of state, Adrian Fontes, in November’s general election, NBC News projects, after winning the GOP primary. Kolodin won the Republican nomination over former state GOP chair Gina Swoboda. Kolodin has frequently questioned the results of past elections in interviews and led several lawsuits to overturn the results of the 2020 and 2022 elections in Arizona, earning rebukes from judges and the state bar association. Kolodin is backed by the conservative nonprofit Turning Point USA and several Arizona GOP members of Congress. Now, he’s running to be the chief election officer in a battleground state during the 2028 presidential campaign. Part of the role of secretary of state in Arizona is overseeing state elections. The office’s duties include working to certify “voting devices, election results, candidates and measures to the ballot, as well as the results of statewide elections,” according to the secretary of state’s website. In a joint PBS interview featuring the two candidates, Kolodin said Arizona voters are looking for more transparency and openness in their elections. “They are not getting that from Adrian Fontes, they will get that from me,” Kolodin said during the interview. “I think voters in this primary and across this state have serious concerns with the way their elections are being administered,” he said. Kolodin also said that people in the state can never be confident in their elections without more observers at polling stations. Fontes, who previously ran elections in Maricopa County, Arizona’s largest county, has been outspoken about President Donald Trump and allies’ efforts to cast doubt on election results in Arizona and elsewhere. The Democrat defeated a Trump-endorsed Republican opponent in the 2022 secretary of state race and is now seeking a second term. Fontes administered the 2024 election in Arizona, when Trump carried the state and won his second term as president. Trump narrowly lost Arizona in 2020.