The 2022 Arizona Secretary of State election was held on Tuesday, November 8, to elect the next Secretary of State of Arizona. Incumbent Secretary of State Katie Hobbs declined to run for a second term, to instead run for governor. Primary elections were held on August 2, 2022. Democrat and former Maricopa County recorder Adrian Fontes defeated Republican representative Mark Finchem by 4.8%.
Finchem was backed by the America First Secretary of State Coalition, a Republican group supporting Secretary of State candidates who championed the far-right conspiracy theory that falsely claimed that Donald Trump won the 2020 United States presidential election. Due to a combination of Arizona's role as a swing state in the previous presidential election, Finchem's views, and the role of the Secretary of State in certifying elections, the race took upon an uncharacteristically high national profile.
Democratic primary
Candidates Nominee Adrian Fontes, former Maricopa County Recorder (2017–2020) and U.S. Marine Corps veteran
Eliminated in primary Reginald Bolding, minority leader of the Arizona House of Representatives
Declined Katie Hobbs, incumbent Secretary of State (ran for Governor)
Debate + 2022 Arizona Secretary of State Democratic primary debate Date Host Moderator Link Democratic DemocraticKey: Participant Absent Not invited Invited Withdrawn Reginald Bolding Adrian Fontes1 Apr. 25, 2022 KAET Ted Simons YouTube
Polling Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Marginof error ReginaldBolding AdrianFontes UndecidedLake Research Partners (D)July 24–26, 2022600 (LV)± 4.0%35%30%28%OH Predictive Insights (D)July 2022537 (RV)± 4.4%29%44%27%Lake Research Partners (D)July 2022– (LV)–29%35%36%Public Policy Polling (D)July 8–9, 2022740 (LV)± 3.6%18%32%51%Lake Research Partners (D)May 2022– (LV)–14%35%51%OH Predictive InsightsOH Predictive InsightsSeptember 7–12, 2021283 (RV)± 5.8%22%17%61%
Results
Republican primary Candidates Nominee Mark Finchem, state representative for Arizona's 11th legislative district
Eliminated in primary Shawnna Bolick, state representative for Arizona's 20th legislative district Beau Lane, advertising executive Michelle Ugenti-Rita, state senator for Arizona's 23rd legislative district
Endorsements
Debate + 2022 Arizona Secretary of State Republican primary debate Date Host Moderator Link Republican Republican Republican RepublicanKey: Participant Absent Not invited Invited Withdrawn Shawnna Bolick Mark Finchem Beau Lane Michelle Ugenti-Rita1 Jun. 25, 2022 KAET Ted Simons YouTube
Polling Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Marginof error ShawnnaBolick MarkFinchem BeauLane Michelle Other UndecidedRasmussen ReportsRasmussen ReportsJuly 27–28, 2022710 (LV)± 4.0%11%27%16%12%10%25%OH Predictive InsightsJuly 27, 2022502 (LV)± 4.4%8%32%11%9%–41%OH Predictive InsightsJune 30 – July 2, 2022515 (LV)± 4.3%3%14%5%6%–72%OH Predictive InsightsApril 4–5, 2022500 (LV)± 4.4%3%13%2%9%–74%OH Predictive InsightsSeptember 7–12, 2021311 (RV)± 5.6%8%11%–7%–74%
Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Marginof error MarkFinchem KellyTownsend MichelleUgenti-Rita Other UndecidedHighGround Public Affairs (R)HighGround Public Affairs (R)May 3–5, 2021400 (LV)± 4.9%5%12%4%8%75%
Results
General election
Debate + 2022 Arizona Secretary of State debate Date Host Moderator Link Democratic RepublicanKey: Participant Absent Not invited Invited Withdrawn Adrian Fontes Mark Finchem1 Sep. 22, 2022 KAET Ted Simons YouTube
Predictions SourceRankingAs of Sabato's Crystal BallNovember 3, 2022Elections DailyNovember 7, 2022
Post-primary endorsements
Polling Graphical summary
Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Marginof error AdrianFontes (D) MarkFinchem (R) Other UndecidedData Orbital (R)Data Orbital (R)November 4–6, 2022550 (LV)± 4.3%47%48%1%4%KAConsulting (R)KAConsulting (R)November 2–3, 2022501 (LV)± 4.4%43%45%–9%HighGround Inc.HighGround Inc.November 1–2, 2022500 (LV)± 4.4%45%42%2%11%Big Data Poll (R)Big Data Poll (R)October 31 – November 2, 20221,501 (LV)± 3.0%47%47%–6%OH Predictive InsightsOctober 24–26, 2022600 (LV)± 4.0%48%42%–11%Siena College/NYTSiena College/NYTOctober 24–26, 2022604 (LV)± 4.4%47%40%–13%BSP Research/Shaw & Co.BSP Research/Shaw & Co.October 19–26, 20221,000 (RV)± 3.1%38%37%5%20%Susquehanna Polling & Research (R)Susquehanna Polling & Research (R)October 14–18, 2022600 (LV)± 4.0%47%42%1%10%HighGround Inc.HighGround Inc.October 12–13, 2022500 (LV)± 4.4%41%42%1%15%CNN/SSRSCNN/SSRSSeptember 26 – October 2, 2022900 (RV)± 4.4%45%44%10%–795 (LV)± 4.6%45%49%6%1%SurveyUSA (D)SurveyUSA (D)September 27–30, 2022563 (LV)± 5.2%44%41%–15%Global Strategy Group (D)Global Strategy Group (D)September 13–20, 2022800 (LV)± 3.5%46%44%–10%The Trafalgar Group (R)The Trafalgar Group (R)September 14–17, 20221080 (LV)± 2.9%41%48%–11%OH Predictive InsightsSeptember 6–9, 2022654 (LV)± 3.83%35%40%–25%
Katie Hobbs vs. Michelle Ugenti-Rita Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Marginof error KatieHobbs (D) Michelle UndecidedOH Predictive InsightsOH Predictive InsightsMarch 8–12, 2021690 (RV)± 3.7%36%30%35% Generic Democrat vs. generic Republican Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Marginof error GenericDemocrat GenericRepublican UndecidedOH Predictive InsightsSeptember 7–12, 2021882 (RV)± 3.3%34%37%28%
Results
By county CountyAdrian FontesDemocraticMark FinchemRepublicanWrite-inMarginTotalvotes#%#%#%#%Apache17,47666.578,77633.4350.028,70033.1426,614Cochise19,40241.9726,82758.03480.10-7,425-16.0646,666Coconino34,48264.1519,27035.85400.0714,21228.3054,727Gila8,17636.7014,10363.30130.06-5,927-26.622,450Graham3,24630.277,47869.7300.00-4,232-39.4610,847Greenlee97840.631,42959.3700.00-451-18.742,446La Paz1,73631.893,70868.1160.11-1,972-36.225,499Maricopa813,49253.67702,37646.334690.03111,1167.341,543,535Mohave20,90126.0559,32073.95160.02-38,419-47.9081,510Navajo18,70146.7721,28053.23130.03-2,579-6.4640,411Pima244,34961.86150,68038.141210.0393,66923.72398,553Pinal62,61844.0079,69656.00340.02-17,078-12.00143,826Santa Cruz9,18170.143,90929.8640.035,27240.2813,099Yavapai45,87637.5976,16262.41430.03-30,286-24.82123,191Yuma20,00544.0625,39755.9480.02-5,392-11.8846,111 Totals1,320,61952.381,200,41147.628200.0317,1170.672,559,485
By congressional district Fontes won five out of nine congressional districts, including two that elected Republicans. DistrictFontesFinchemRepresentative54%46%David Schweikert47%53%Tom O'Halleran (117th Congress)Eli Crane (118th Congress)78%22%Ruben Gallego59%41%Greg Stanton45%55%Andy Biggs54%46%Ann Kirkpatrick (117th Congress)Juan Ciscomani (118th Congress)68%32%Raúl Grijalva47%53%Debbie Lesko38%62%Paul Gosar
Post-election legal challenge In December 2022, Mark Finchem filed a lawsuit petitioning for the election to be "nullified and redone"; the lawsuit was dismissed with prejudice that month by Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Melissa Julian, confirming Adrian Fontes' victory in the election. While Finchem alleged that voting machines in Arizona were not properly certified, the judge rejected this, because the Election Assistance Commission did not vote to revoke certification, which is the procedure under federal law, so the judge rejected the merits of Finchem's arguments on voting machines certification. The judge also rejected the merits of Finchem's arguments on voting software certification. Next, regarding Finchem's issues with tabulating machines and a website listing for an estimated number of votes, the judge concluded that Finchem "does not allege that any of the votes cast were actually illegal" and does not allege that any legal vote was not counted, but only alleged "suspicions that some votes may not have been counted", so the judge rejected this argument as insufficient to overturn an election.
Then, the judge rejected Finchem's allegations of "misconduct" by Secretary of State Katie Hobbs as insufficient. Finchem argued that Hobbs should have recused after her gubernatorial opponent Kari Lake "perceived a conflict of interest", with the judge responding that this were "not well-pled facts; they are legal conclusions masquerading as alleged facts", and legal conclusions unsupported by Arizona law. Regarding Hobbs' actions in telling Mohave County and Cochise County to certify their election by the November 28 deadline, the judge stated that it was Hobbs' responsibility "to ensure the canvass and certification of a general election is completed within the statutorily prescribed timeframes", and that it was not misconduct for her "to communicate with other governing bodies to ensure" thus. Finally, the judge rejected Finchem's protest over his allegation that Twitter suspended his account in October 2022 as irrelevant because Twitter is not an "election official".
Finchem appealed the rejection of his election challenge, then abandoned the appeal in July 2023, with his lawyer citing other failed 2022 election challenging lawsuits in Arizona.
Notes
Partisan clients
References
External links Official campaign websites: Mark Finchem (R) for Secretary of State Adrian Fontes (D) for Secretary of State