Maricopa County Attorney Allister Adel to Return Home After Hospitalization

Maricopa County Attorney Allister Adel released a statement on Friday saying she continues to recover from a brain injury she suffered on election night and will return home “in the coming weeks.”

She didn’t say when she might return to work.

Adel, a 44-year-old career prosecutor and Republican, was appointed to her post in October 2019 after the resignation of Bill Montgomery, who was placed on the Arizona Supreme Court by Governor Doug Ducey. After running a heated race with Democrat Julie Gunnigle to keep her seat, Adel’s campaign announced on election night that she’d been rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery due to bleeding on the brain. Gunnigle was in the lead that night after the first round of votes were counted. But as Adel recovered from her surgery and more ballots were counted, she took the lead and retained her seat as head of one of the largest county prosecutor’s offices in the country.

Here’s her entire statement:

“Over the past month, my family and I have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of support by this community. It has provided us much comfort during this time. I am grateful for the high-quality medical treatment I am receiving and want to publicly thank the medical teams who have taken care of me. I am still recovering at Barrow’s Neurological Institute and look forward to returning home in the coming weeks.

“To my family at the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, thank you for continuing to focus on the important work of our office. You are professionals of the highest caliber and I am proud of the work you are doing to keep the office moving forward.

“Finally, I’m proud to be the first woman elected as the Maricopa County Attorney and I want to thank the voters of Maricopa County for entrusting me with this honor. I feel stronger every day and while I know that recovering from a brain injury is a slow and steady process, I look forward to working with my medical team to ensure a safe and full recovery.

“Newsrooms: No interviews are being conducted at this time.”

Adel is married with two school-age boys.

The accident resulted from a “mundane” fall before the election, Jennifer Liewer, spokesperson for Adel’s office, previously told Phoenix New Times.

“Allister got up in the middle of the night to go to the restroom, tripped on something in the bedroom, and hit her head on a piece of furniture in the dark,” Liewer said. Days later, “the bleed progressed and became an emergency situation” on Election Day.”