Maricopa County Supervisor Bill Gates not seeking reelection in 2024

PHOENIX — Maricopa County Supervisor Bill Gates announced Thursday that he won’t seek reelection to a third term in 2024.

The District 3 Republican, who served on the Phoenix City Council before being elected to the board of the state’s largest county in 2016, said he plans “to pursue other interests and opportunities.”

“As this chapter comes to an end, I rest well knowing that I led with integrity, compassion and dignity,” he said in a statement.

“Regardless of personal partisan preferences or external pressure, I remained focused on making our region the best place to live, work and raise a family.”

My statement regarding running in the 2024 election: pic.twitter.com/77IWq4z8X2

— Bill Gates (@billgatesaz) June 1, 2023

Gates recently told The Washington Post he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder after being subjected to harassment and threats over the county’s elections.

The board of supervisors, which has four Republicans and one Democrat, is responsible for overseeing the county’s Election Day operations. When tabulation machines had trouble reading ballots at multiple voting centers last year, Gates, then the board’s chairman, was often in front of cameras explaining the situation.

The problems were traced to incorrect printer settings, and Gates and other county officials said all submitted ballots were accurately counted.

However, people who already were distrustful of the county’s election system latched onto the issues as a sign of malfeasance.

At the advice of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, Gates moved from his home to an undisclosed location because of safety concerns in the days around the Nov. 8 election.

“Threats of violence should never be normalized, of course, and I am, in particular, more concerned with our elections workers who have been dealing with this, not only here in Maricopa County but, really, nationwide for the past two years,” Gates told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Arizona’s Morning News at the time.

Much of the abuse targeted at Gates and other elections officials can be traced Donald Trump’s loss in 2020 and the barrage of unsubstantiated claims of election fraud by him and his followers that followed.

Maricopa County has come out on top in every lawsuit challenging the 2020 and 2022 election results, although Republican Kari Lake is still appealing in her effort to overturn her loss to Katie Hobbs in the 2022 governor’s race.

Gates’ current term runs through one more election.

“My will to fight for the truth remains unhindered, and I look forward to Maricopa County running the 2024 election,” Gates said Thursday.

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