Think Tank talks Arizona voter polling, chats with elections office nominee Adrian Fontes
Oct 21, 2022, 10:30 AM
(AP Photo, File/Matt York)
(AP Photo, File/Matt York)
Our first guest on Think Tank this week is Sybil Francis, president and CEO of the Center for the Future of Arizona. She was a recent Think Tank guest who presented poll results on what Arizonans want in their politics and on several key policy issues. There was a lot more consensus than our vitriolic politics might suggest.
This second survey presented views on the fairness, accuracy, and security of elections. Given that these have been called into question, the center’s findings are instructive. One tidbit: 64% of the electorate want candidates who will work across party lines and compromise rather than defend a fixed position. Hmmmm.
Democratic candidate for secretary of state Adrian Fontes is our guest in the second half of the show. He is a practicing attorney, served in both the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office and the Attorney General’s Office and is a Marine Corps veteran.
Fontes was Maricopa County recorder from 2017-21 and ran the 2020 election. He lost a close election to the current recorder Stephen Richer in 2020.
Fontes’ Republican opponent Mark Finchem did not respond to several invitations to participate.
We ask several questions including:
• How he would run the secretary of state’s office differently?
• What changes he made in the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office in his four years in office.
• What is at stake in this election for SOS?
• What would happen if an Arizona secretary of state were to refuse to certify an election?
The Think Tank airs on KTAR 92.3 FM on Saturday 6-7 p.m. and Sunday 9-10 p.m.
Podcasts are available after broadcast. Older shows are archived at www.mikeoneil.org
