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Arizona state Rep. Alexander Kolodin, an election attorney, is projected to defeat former state GOP chair Gina Swoboda in the Republican primary to take on Secretary of State Adrian Fontes (D) in November, according to Decision Desk HQ.
Kolodin is best known for his efforts to contest the 2020 election results, with the State Bar of Arizona ultimately sanctioning him over the move.
In 2023, the Arizona state House Republican supported legislation alongside most of his GOP peers in both chambers that would have given counties the ability to hand-count ballots instead of tabulating them through machines. Some Republicans have suggested that machine tabulations aren’t reliable, though officials have pushed back against the idea.
Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs ultimately vetoed that bill.
The Grand Canyon State became ground zero for election denialism after President Trump baselessly claimed that he had won Arizona in 2020 against former President Biden.
That strand of election denialism has continued to flourish among a key contingent of the GOP base, with state Senate Republicans independently auditing the Maricopa County 2020 results, which ultimately confirmed Biden’s victory.
Swoboda, a former Democrat-turned-Republican, worked on election issues in both chambers of the Arizona legislature and was chair of the Republican National Committee’s election integrity unit. She’s previously also worked for the Arizona secretary of state’s office when it was helmed by both Republicans and Democrats, according to The Arizona Republic.
Swoboda has somewhat mimicked Trump’s language around the election while at the same time affirming the election results. She said past elections in 2020 and 2022 were “stolen fair and square,” according to KJZZ. She also worked for the conservative nonprofit Voter Reference Foundation, which tried to investigate voter roll irregularities using questionable methodology, according to ProPublica.
The Arizona secretary of state’s office oversees Arizona’s elections, which will be particularly important during the 2028 presidential election given the state’s battle ground status.
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