Democratic Arizona SoS candidate Adrian Fontes wants to restore confidence in elections

PHOENIX — Adrian Fontes, a Democratic candidate for Arizona Secretary of State, said Tuesday that restoring faith in elections requires cutting the drama and fighting misinformation.

Fontes told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Gaydos and Chad Show that misinformation and over-dramatization are what he sees as the biggest problems with elections, and something he plans to attack head-on if he wins the August primary and November general elections.

“I just want to get in there, do a good job and bring us back to where folks can have confidence in one another because confidence in our elections isn’t so much in our election officials, it’s confidence in the regular citizens who step in for a short period of time, couple weeks, a couple of days, and run the elections,” Fontes said.

“They’re the ones who should be trusted, they’re the Republicans and Democrats and independents who do it and that’s what we ought to be focusing on.”

Fontes said Arizonans want someone who’s just going to do the job and make sure it’s done fairly, and that’s him.

“My mission is to make sure that we have free and fair elections in Arizona, that people can have faith that they’ve got someone who’s going to call balls and strikes, even if it goes against him personally,” Fontes said. “I have a history of integrity and honor in doing that.”

Fontes was the Maricopa County Recorder during the November 2020 election, a seat he lost to Republican Stephen Richer in that race.

While voicing his disdain for candidates backed by former President Donald Trump, Fontes vowed to not let his personal opinions bleed into the role as the state’s top election official.

“You don’t have to like the guy to be fair towards him,” Fontes said. “I mean, those are two very different things.

“The folks that don’t understand the difference between being a professional and being mature and getting the job done right and having a personal opinion about some of these politics, you’ve got to be a bit of a grown-up to be able to separate the two in your head. I like to think that at my 52 years of age I can do that.”

Fontes said he gave that kind of respect and deference to Richer after he was defeated in the race. He added that while he didn’t like the campaign run against him, Richer turned out to be a pretty earnest guy in the office.

“You just do the job and it’s not about what you personally want except for just doing the job,” Fontes said.

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