Rachel Mitchell leading Republican primary for Maricopa County Attorney

PHOENIX — Rachel Mitchell leads Gina Godbehere in the race to secure the Republican nomination for Maricopa County Attorney after the first results for the primary election were released Tuesday night.

Mitchell had 59% of the vote compared to Godbehere’s 41% on the first drop of results, according to Maricopa County Elections Department.

The winner will take on Julie Gunnigle, who ran unopposed in the Democratic primary, to serve the remainder of Allister Adel’s term. The winner will be up for reelection again in 2024.

The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors picked Mitchell in April for the role on an interim basis due to her past experience which could allow her to hit the ground running.

Mitchell previously served as the acting Maricopa County attorney in 2019 when Bill Montgomery was appointed to the Arizona Supreme Court.

She was picked over Gina Godbehere and Anni Foster for the role that by law had to be a Republican since that was Adel’s party affiliation. Foster withdrew from the race shortly after Mitchell was appointed.

Mitchell previously said the process of her stepping into the role has gone smoothly, despite inheriting a backlog of cases that had yet to be reviewed.

She also announced the creation of an organized retail theft team that looks to ensure successful prosecution of the crimes.

Mitchell said she will use Arizona’s abortion laws as a guideline for addressing potential cases that come to her office after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade but offered a potential willingness to not prosecute those resulting from sexual assault, a stance her Democratic opponent in the November general election said only caused more confusion.

Adel resigned from the office in March shortly after it was disclosed that nearly 200 misdemeanor criminal cases had to be dropped because charges weren’t filed on time, concluding a tumultuous time in the office.

Adel died at age 45 in April from health complications.

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