Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes is projected to defeat Republican Warren Petersen and win a second term as Arizonas top law enforcement officer.
NBC 做厙勛圖 and the Associated Press called the race as Mayes held a wide lead in unofficial results early Nov. 4. Counties were expected to report additional ballots on Nov. 4 and throughout the coming days.
Mayes spoke to a crowd of a couple hundred at the Arizona Democratic Party's election night party at a resort in Phoenix just before 10 p.m. Mayes shouted into the microphone, projecting victory for herself and other Democratic candidates up and down the ballot.
"The people of Arizona have seen what it means to actually stand up to corporations ... and we are going to continue to do that for four more years," Mayes said. The crowd responded with chants of "four more years!"
People are also reading…
Petersen offered a somber message to a crowd of over 100 supporters gathered at a Chandler restaurant on election night. The event was hosted by GOP gubernatorial nominee Rep. Andy Biggs, who was projected to lose to incumbent Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs.
It looks like we are on track to losing the executive suite again, Petersen said.
But he rallied the crowd around defending legislative seats, saying if Republicans dont hold the statehouse, Arizona will be like California in six months.
Mayes and Petersen offered Arizona voters vastly different approaches to handling the administration of President Donald Trump.
Mayes has lambasted Trumps policies and blocked them in the nations courtrooms. Petersen has vowed more federal cooperation and said Mayes lawsuits amounted to overreach by her office.
The election results are unofficial until they are canvassed, or certified, by county and state election officials in mid-November. In a close race, it could take days to declare a winner as more ballots are counted daily.
Mayes has sued the Trump administration 50 times in two years, successfully challenging the president's tariffs, elements of his immigration crackdown and other policies. She joined Democratic attorneys general from across the nation in filing the lawsuits, becoming the party's foremost defense against policies coming from the White House.
Petersen promised to review cases he viewed as Mayes' weaponization of the office, including the lawsuits against the Trump administration. He would end a case against 2020 Trump electors who falsely claimed Trump won a second consecutive term, he said. Though that case has been dismissed because of errors by Mayes' deputies, Mayes has vowed to pursue it.
Petersen campaigned with the backing of the state's largest police unions, support he contended made him more suited to be Arizona's top cop.
Both candidates made their pitches to voters feeling the pinch of high prices, though the attorney general has limited power to help.
The role is not a policymaking one, but cases brought by state prosecutors can target price gougers and other schemes that drive up costs. Mayes has made consumer protection a top focus of her first term, traveling the state to hear directly from Arizonans about issues ranging from mines to data centers and water use.
The race was notable for its overtures to Arizona's politically important Latino voters. Both Mayes and Petersen sought to win their support through Spanish-language advertising and events, with Petersen highlighting his marriage to a Mexican immigrant in several ads.
A former journalist at The Arizona Republic and the now-closed Phoenix Gazette in the 1990s, Mayes later worked as a utility regulator on the Arizona Corporation Commission and then as a professor at Arizona State University's Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law. She was at ASU when she ran for attorney general in 2022.
Mayes won what became one of the tightest races in state history, and after a recount, claimed just 280 votes over her 2022 opponent Abe Hamadeh. Hamadeh was elected to Congress two years later.
Petersen has been a state lawmaker since 2012, representing the Gilbert area in both the state House of Representatives and Senate. He has been Senate president for the last four years, a leadership post that has forced him to navigate factions within the GOP majority. Away from the Capitol, he works as a real estate broker.
In his seven terms in office, Petersen has advocated for tax cuts and fewer government regulations. He was a key figure who enabled the Senate's partisan review of ballots cast in Maricopa County in 2020, and while he has received Trump's endorsement, Petersen hasn't been an explicit proponent of false claims that Trump won six years ago.
Mayes has spent more than double Petersen as she seeks a second term. Her campaign paid out more than $5 million as of the end of September, compared with Petersen's spending of about $2 million.
Petersen handily defeated a better-funded opponent in the July primary, when he won the party's nomination over Phoenix attorney and perennial candidate Rodney Glassman.
Reporter Robert Anglen contributed to this story.
