During the public comment portion of meetings, election deniers have accused the mostly Republican board of treason and stealing the election from Donald Trump and his allies. In February, the board had to beef up security after a group of angry voters made their way into an area in front of the dais and wouldn’t leave.
During Thursday’s election canvass, at which time the board certified a resounding win in the county for former President Donald Trump, the seats were all but empty. Journalists, staff, election workers and the security team were in the audience, but none of the people who had been absolutely convinced Maricopa County couldn’t run a clean election could be found.
“I see very few residents here that decide to come to this auditorium and bitch and scream at us about not doing a job correctly,” said Supervisor Clint Hickman, a centrist Republican who has fought back against election conspiracies and who opted against seeking reelection in 2024.
“Nobody’s in the audience,” he added. “Maybe everyone’s just taking it for granted that counties do elections very well.”
Those angry residents weren’t watching online, either. When Hickman asked for the number of people watching the county’s livestream, he was told only 40 people were tuned in.
The phenomenon of the disappearing election deniers is hardly unique to Maricopa County. While conspiracy theories continue to be pushed by partisans of GOP Senate candidate Kari Lake, who was the only Republican to lose a statewide race in Arizona this year, for the most part, the legions of MAGA voters convinced that Jan. 6 was a righteous defense of democracy have been silent.Maricopa County Board of Supervisors meetings have often been packed as MAGA Republicans pile in to accuse supervisors of fraud and treason.
— Morgan Fischer (@morgfisch) November 21, 2024
Thursday's meeting was notably different. As Supervisor Hickman pointed out, the people who "bitch and scream at us," were absent. pic.twitter.com/uUKwiGI2Uc
As the New York Times reported on Nov. 6, the day after Election Day, election deniers who had “spent years shouting about election integrity suddenly faded to a whisper” when Trump took a commanding lead over Democrat Kamala Harris.
When the public comment portion of Thursday’s county supervisors meeting arrived, there few no histrionics. Only one person spoke, and he expressed his support of Supervisor Thomas Galvin’s proposal for a cut-off on early voting to shorten the time it takes to count ballots. The only drama came when a woman showed up late and missed the cut-off for speaking, requiring her removal from the chamber after she kept interrupting the proceedings.
The meetings used to be like that all the time, Hickman made clear Thursday. With the board turning over significantly next year — Hickman, Bill Gates and Jack Sellers will not return — Hickman warned the new supervisors about what they’re getting into. Meetings will be filled by “people who want to come and do performative politics and try to get on TV and assault our names and our reputations,” he said.
Then again, the next board may not be as willing to fight election denialism. An election-skeptic, Justin Heap, dethroned moderate Republican Stephen Richer for Maricopa County Recorder. Two other election deniers — Republicans Debbie Lesko and Mark Stewart — won supervisor seats. The third incoming supervisor is moderate Republican Kate Brophy McGee, though her race against Democrat Daniel Valenzuela is going to a recount.
That may be worse for election integrity in Maricopa County, but it may also mean Board of Supervisors meetings will be quieter. Election conspiracies may go away magically when one side wins, but Hickman knows battling them comes with a cost.
“I am going to be very, very glad,” he said Thursday, “to serve out this role.”
