Adrian Fontes concedes to challenger Stephen Richer in county recorder race

PHOENIX – Maricopa County Recorder Adrian Fontes, who has been overseeing the vote count in Arizona’s largest county, conceded in his race against Stephen Richer on Thursday.

Fontes, a first-term Democrat, said he called the Republican challenger to offer congratulations and an upcoming tour of the facilities.

I’ve called @Richer4Recorder to congratulate him, and will be welcoming Maricopa’s 30th Recorder with a personal tour of our facilities next week.#ProtectDemocracy

— Adrian Fontes (@Adrian_Fontes) November 12, 2020

As of Thursday morning, Richer held a lead of 4,652 votes. According to the Arizona Secretary of State’s website, only 6,715 Maricopa County ballots remained to be counted.

The incumbent led the race after initial results were released on Election Day, but Richer chipped away and moved ahead over the weekend as Fontes’ office continued counting votes.

Fontes unseated Republican Helen Purcell, who had been in office since 1988, in the 2016 election.

Richer, a Phoenix attorney, campaigned on promises of running fair and competent elections without partisan lean.

“It’s time to take the nonsense out of the Recorder’s Office. It’s time to make the Recorder’s Office boring again,” he said on his campaign website.

Richer ran a low-key campaign and has been relatively quiet since Election Day, but he did issue a statement against the protests staged outside the Maricopa County vote tabulation center last week. He noted in a tweet that the process is overseen by the Board of Supervisors, which has four Republicans and one Democrat.

If u value my input:
Please don’t join these groups
Please encourage groups to choose different location
Process is overseen by GOP board
If prez (+other GOP), to have a chance, mctec must be allowed to count
If you have legit concern or issue, tell AG, who is far from squish
Pls https://t.co/As8sDJJSGA

— Stephen Richer (@Richer4Recorder) November 6, 2020

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