Former Rep. David Stringer to run for Yavapai County Attorney
Jan 11, 2020, 12:48 PM | Updated: 8:03 pm
PHOENIX – Former Arizona Rep. David Stringer announced his candidacy for Yavapai County Attorney on Friday evening after resigning from the state House of Representatives amid controversy last year.
Having just been reelected to a second term the November previous, Stringer resigned from the Arizona House of Representatives in March of 2019 after ethics complaints following reports that he was charged with sex crimes in a 1983 case that was later expunged.
ABC15 obtained documents from a Baltimore Police Department report that alleges Stringer paid boys younger than 15 to perform sex acts and allegedly molested the boys more than 10 times. It was also mentioned one of the boys had a mental disability.
The television station reported Stringer pleaded to lesser charges and was sentenced to five years of probation and 1,040 hours of community service.
He faced possible expulsion for his refusal to turn over records to the ethics investigation.
Stringer directly addressed the arrest and his resignation in a Facebook post, saying the liberal media and even some of his fellow legislators, “used the circumstances of my old false arrest to put me in an untenable position where I would be forced to violate a court order or refuse to comply with a subpoena.”
He added both options would have violated his oath as an attorney, forcing him to resign rather than place his law license at risk.
Nearly a year after resigning, Stringer is saying the resignation did not scare him away from fighting for those who need his help.
“It has hardened my resolve to stand up to bullies and bureaucrats who serve themselves instead of We The People,” he said in the post.
Sheila Polk has held the position of Yavapai County Attorney since being elected nearly two decades ago.
Stringer says Yavapai County, which had a population of over 230,000 in 2018, deserves a, “fresh approach to criminal justice.”
“It is time to bring the criminal justice system in Yavapai County into the 21st century, and recognize that today’s criminal is often better equipped and more ruthless than the criminals of years gone by,” Stringer said. “If we are going to keep you safe, we need to start doing a better and smarter job.”
In the post, Stringer accused Polk of wasting tax dollars by locking up low-level offenders.
Prior to resigning, Stringer was also being investigated over comments that were widely denounced as racist. A video circulated on social media in the summer of 2018 of Stringer saying “there aren’t enough white kids to go around” when discussing integration in schools and also told university students that African Americans “don’t blend in.”
He apologized for his language in a speech on the House floor last January.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
