Arizona sadly has one of the most fascist attorneys general currently in office, Democrat Kris Mayes. She ruthlessly uses lawfare and corrupt actions to force her leftist, authoritarian views on everyone, even against the Trump administration outside of Arizona, stamping out dissent. Fortunately, conservative Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen is running against her for the November 3 election.
Mayes has a long laundry list of this fascist behavior, abusing the law and targeting her Republican opponents. She attempted to prosecute the 2020 alternate electors for President Donald Trump and their associates. Her case was so poorly done that even a Democrat-appointed judge threw it out, which was affirmed by a higher court. Mayes vowed to prosecute them again, but tellingly has not done so yet because she’s trying to tone things down during her general election campaign.
None of the prosecutions of alternate electors and their associates have gone very far. The cases in Georgia, Michigan, and Nevada went nowhere. Only the case in Wisconsin remains.
Mayes coordinated with the far-leftist States United Democracy Center (SUDC) to prosecute the alternate electors. SUDC drafted the criminal complaint for her. When Judicial Watch submitted a public records request for evidence of the collusion, Mayes refused to turn it over. Judicial Watch sued and won. Mayes was effectively allowing a leftist NGO to run the office.
SUDC, through related organizations, indirectly provided $190,000 to a legal defense fund that Mayes had established — clear evidence of a pay-to-play scheme. Additionally, the Democratic Attorneys General Association gave Mayes $50,000 before the defendants in the case were indicted, and another $150,000 after the indictments. An attorney for Christina Bobb, one of the defendants, filed a pleading pointing this out.
Mayes is also prosecuting Cochise County Supervisor Tom Crosby, merely for attempting to delay the canvassing of an election for a few days over concerns about election wrongdoing. Petersen and the House Speaker submitted a brief defending Crosby. The legislature’s Freedom Caucus strongly denounced the prosecution, with founder Jake Hoffman stating that the message behind Mayes’ prosecution is, “Tow the executive branch’s line or we will politically persecute you and throw you in jail.”
In 2023, she threatened Mohave County supervisors with prosecution if they conducted a full hand-count of ballots.
Mayes launched a site for submitting photos and videos of ICE agents, and suggested that people could use lethal force against ICE agents. During an interview with 12 News, Mayes said, “We’re a gun culture in this state... You have these masked federal officers with very little identification, sometimes no identification, wearing plain clothes and masks. And we have a Stand Your Ground law that says that if you reasonably believe that your life is in danger, and you’re in your house or your car or on your property, that you can defend yourself with lethal force.”
Her police liaison resigned after the backlash, and both chambers of the Arizona Legislature voted to censure her, calling for her resignation.
As a huge fan of lawfare, she sued the Trump administration during his second term more than almost any other Democratic AG, 48 times. Every few days I open my inbox, and there’s another press release from Mayes announcing a new lawsuit against Trump. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11 and state equivalents allow courts to sanction parties or attorneys for filings that are not warranted by existing law, lack evidentiary support, or are filed for an improper purpose such as harassment, delay, or needless cost.
Her investigation into alleged pay-to-play by Governor Katie Hobbs involving state contractor Sunshine Residential predictably ended with no charges — even though Hobbs refused to cooperate and participate in an interview. Of course it did, because Hobbs is facing an election too. Sunshine Residential, which operates group homes for children in state care, received substantial rate increases from the state around the same time it and its leaders made large contributions benefiting Hobbs and Democrats. Other providers did not receive this higher rate.
Mayes awarded $250,000 - $297,000 in no-bid state contracts to Stacey Champion, a longtime political consultant and close crony of Hobbs. Arizona law restricts no-bid contracts, and violating this law is a class 4 felony.
She refused to defend the state in important lawsuits, so Petersen jumped in on behalf of the Arizona Legislature, defending them instead. He has participated in well over 100 lawsuits or briefs to defend Arizona laws when Mayes would not, referring to himself as the “de facto AG” due to taking on this role. He successfully defended the 2022 law restricting biological males from competing in girls’/women’s school sports. He also defended Arizona’s abortion restrictions and intervened in election lawsuits.
No one believes Mayes ever practiced law prior to becoming the AG. She lied about being a prosecutor, claiming that she engaged in prosecution while serving on the Arizona Corporation Commission. But you don’t need to be a lawyer to serve on that commission — if what she said was true, then the other non-lawyers on the commission were illegally engaging in the unauthorized practice of law.
In December 2023, the Maricopa County Republican Committee unanimously passed a resolution demanding that the Arizona House impeach Mayes. The following year, an Ad Hoc Committee on Executive Oversight in the Arizona Legislature released a 102-page report recommending that the House impeach Mayes for abuse of power, neglect of duty, and malfeasance.
The most recent poll in the race, which is from the Democratic polling firm Equis Research, shows Mayes and Petersen tied at 45-45. Since the poll is partisan, Petersen is likely ahead a few points.
Voters are terrified that election wrongdoing will turn over this race and the races for governor and secretary of state to the Democrats. But early voting has already started, and Republicans are turning out in large numbers. With a 7-8 percent GOP voter registration advantage in the state, Petersen should easily win over this fascist.