GOP picks election denier Alexander Kolodin to challenge Adrian Fontes for secretary of state

Far-right state lawmaker and election attorney Alexander Kolodin, who has backed President Donald Trump’s evidence-free election fraud claims, won the GOP nomination for Arizona secretary of state

He defeated Gina Swoboda, the former Arizona Republican Party chairwoman and a veteran election administrator who avoided backing the unfounded election conspiracy theories that have become a tenet of faith among many Republicans. 

On Tuesday night, the Associated Press called the race for Kolodin, who had a sizable lead over Swoboda. Backed by the late Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA, Kolodin claims that Arizona elections are a “disaster” and that people rightfully don’t trust their results. 

“Arizona voters spoke up decisively tonight for lawful, transparent, honest, and fair elections,” Kolodin wrote in a Tuesday night social media post. “Whether you supported me or my opponent, whether you’re a McCain Independent, a Trump Republican, or a Goldwater Democrat, I want you to know that our campaign is about protecting every vote, regardless of Party.”

Kolodin was sanctioned by the Arizona State Bar in 2023 for his part in lawsuits challenging the 2020 election that made implausible and evidence-free claims of massive election fraud. He represented Trump’s campaign in the so-called “kraken” lawsuit in Arizona that was based on claims made by people with no actual knowledge of the elections.

That lawsuit had no evidence and made outlandish allegations, including that then-Secretary of State Katie Hobbs and Gov. Doug Ducey engaged in “massive election fraud” “for the purpose of illegally and fraudulently manipulating the vote count to manufacture an election of Joe Biden.” The lawsuit sought to disqualify all of Arizona’s mail-in ballots from counting in the election as well as to disqualify Arizona’s electors from casting their votes for Biden, or to order them to put the Grand Canyon State’s electoral votes toward Donald Trump instead. 

U.S. District Court Judge Diane Humetewa nixed the case in a scathing dismissal, calling the relief Kolodin sought “extraordinary” and adding that it would “utterly disenfranchise” millions of Arizonans who voted in the 2020 election based on claims that were “sorely wanting of relevant or reliable evidence.” 

While Kolodin and the other attorneys submitted more than 300 pages of attachments, the purported evidence was mostly “anonymous witnesses, hearsay, and relevant analysis of unrelated elections.”

Both Swoboda, a former employee at the secretary of state’s office, and Kolodin, an attorney, have had a hand in crafting Arizona election policy. 

But Kolodin, a member of the far-right Arizona Freedom Caucus, has a distinctly more extreme take. He backed changes to Arizona election laws that are deeply unpopular with voters, including banning no-excuse vote-by-mail and returning to voting in tiny precincts, which election officials said was logistically impossible. 

“I got into this race to give our voters a choice,” Swoboda said in a Tuesday night social media post. “Our people have spoken. It has been an honor to serve our party, both as chair and as a candidate for Secretary of State. I wish our party nothing but success up and down the ticket in the General Election. God Bless Arizona.” 

Although Kolodin criticized Swoboda for being a former Democrat, Trump backed her in 2024 when she became AZGOP chairwoman. Before that, she led the Voter Reference Foundation, a Trump-aligned nonprofit. 

Meanwhile, Swoboda has said that Kolodin is unelectable and argued to voters on the campaign trail that Democratic incumbent Secretary of State Adrian Fontes is sure to win reelection over Kolodin. 

Fontes handily beat Republican election denier Mark Finchem to take the office in 2022.

In a social media post Tuesday night, after the race was called for Kolodin, former Republican Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer congratulated Fontes on winning the general election. 

“I didn’t think the GOP could find somebody as … special… as Mark Finchem to run against you. But…” Richer, who was a constant target for election deniers from his own party, wrote. 

Kolodin promised in his Tuesday night post to “restore lawfulness, stability, and common sense to the office of Arizona Secretary of State.”