Maricopa County primary election results: Sheriff, recorder, attorney

Results in the 2024 primary election in Maricopa County are rolling in, with notable races for county attorney, sheriff and recorder on the line.

Here are the preliminary results as reported around 1:13 a.m. on July 31 by the Maricopa County Elections Department. The county has seen roughly 26% turnout so far and expects 30% or less for this primary. Most races are all but decided, though the GOP race for school superintendent remains close.

County Attorney

Republican
Rachel Mitchell (Incumbent) – 57.49% (182,660)
Gina Godbehere – 42.21% (134,109)

Democrat
Tamika Wooten – 99.55% (225,459)

Mitchell has served as county attorney since 2022, when she was appointed to replace Allister Adel. Mitchell won a special election later that year, defeating Godbehere in the primary leading up to it. She looks poised to do so again this year.

Godbehere, who worked in the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office for years, ran to Mitchell’s right, attacking her as soft on crime and accusing Mitchell of ducking primary debates. Missing the debate doesn’t seem to have mattered to primary voters, though.

Wooten ran unopposed and cruised to the general election, but the road will get much rougher from here. Maricopa County has not had a Democratic county attorney in decades.

On Wednesday, Mitchell thanked supporters and said she's "proud to stand on my record as a career prosecutor and victims advocate." She also said the race for county attorney shouldn't be a partisan one, despite her sometimes using press conferences to do exactly that.

"Increasingly, we are seeing a push to turn a blind eye on crime, and it’s been a disaster in major cities all across the country," Mitchell said in the emailed statement. "I will not allow that to happen in Maricopa County. Law enforcement is not and should not be a partisan issue, and that’s why I’ll keep working with anyone to do what’s right for our county."

County Recorder

Republican
Justin Heap – 42.26% (133,561)
Stephen Richer (Incumbent) – 35.79% (113,090)
Don Hiatt – 21.7% (68,563)

Democrat
Tim Stringham – 99.48% (221,904)

Richer has done his best to hold the MAGA elements of his party at bay, pushing back forcefully on election conspiracy theories and maintaining the integrity of elections in the county. But he's headed for a loss to Heap, who is finishing a term in the Arizona House and has been wishy-washy about whether recent elections were “stolen.”

This raises the stakes significantly for November and for how elections will run in Maricopa County for the next four years. Heap will face Stringham, who is a military veteran and political newbie. A Democrat win wouldn’t be unheard of, though. Adrian Fontes, the current Arizona Secretary of State, won the office in 2016 before losing to Richer in the 2020 election.

On Wednesday morning, Richer conceded the primary race.

It's been a privilege. Thank you.

Elections have winners and, sadly, losers. And in this one, it looks like I'm going to end up on the losing side of the column.

But that's the name of the game. Accept it. Move on.

Congratulations to @azjustinheap on winning the primary…

— Stephen Richer—MaricopaCountyRecorder (prsnl acct) (@stephen_richer) July 31, 2024

County Sheriff

Republican
Jerry Sheridan – 51.02% (164,980)
Frank Milstead – 27.78% (89,832)
Mike Crawford – 20.8% (67,264)

Democrat
Tyler Kamp – 54,44% (121,891)
Russ Skinner (Incumbent) – 45.04% (100,834)

This race has intrigue in both the GOP and Democratic primaries.

None of the GOP sheriff candidates inspire a ton of confidence. Sheridan is a former Joe Arpaio deputy who is on the Brady List of untrustworthy cops and keeps trying to whitewash his involvement in Arpaio’s unconstitutional immigration sweeps of a decade ago. But he’s running away in the race against Milstead, the former director of the Arizona Department of Public Safety who was seen as Sheridan’s main competition.

It looks like Sheridan will face Kamp in November. The former Phoenix police officer has a sizeable lead over Skinner, the current Maricopa County Sheriff. Skinner switched parties so he could be appointed to the position after former Sheriff Paul Penzone resigned in October. Kamp has the backing of the Maricopa Democratic Party and has weathered reports having been the subject of a sexual harassment investigation while with the Phoenix Police Department.

Sheridan also won the GOP nomination four years ago, but lost to Penzone.

County School Superintendent

Republican
Steve Watson (Incumbent) – 35.09% (105,713)
Shelli Boggs – 33.21% (100,045)
Nickie Kelley – 31.32% (94,363)

Democrat
Laura Metcalfe – 99.65% (227,164)

So far, Watson is just barely holding on to the Republican nomination as he seeks a third term in office. His management of the agency’s funds has been so bad that the Arizona Republic’s editorial board called for his defeat. His two opponents aren’t much better – backed by anti-woke elements of the party who use “DEI” as a slur.

Metcalfe is a former county schools administrator who floats unopposed to the general election. She’ll provide a stark contrast against whoever wins the GOP nod.

County Treasurer

Republican
John Allen (Incumbent) – 57.24% (170,252)
William Lichtsinn – 42.48% (126,347)

Democrat
No candidate

With no Democrat to face in November, it appears Allen will cruise to a second term in office.

County Supervisor District 1

Republican
Mark Stewart – 64.95% (43,207)
Jack Sellers – 34,61% (23,020)

Democrat
Joel Navarro – 99.7% (48,227)

Sellers looks likely to lose to Stewart, a current Chandler City Councilmember who has been dodgy about whether the last two elections were on the up-and-up. He’ll face Navarro, a former Tempe City Councilmember who is hoping to flip the district blue after Sellers barely won in the 2020 general election.

County Supervisor District 2

Republican
Thomas Galvin – 57.03% (48,176)
Michelle Ugenti-Rita – 42.7% (36,069)

Democrat
Julie Cieniawski – 99.64% (47,965)

Galvin won election to the Board of Supervisors in 2022, and it looks like he’ll hold on comfortably to the GOP nomination against Ugenti-Rita, a former state legislator with a turbulent history in public service. Galvin ran unopposed last time. He faces a Democratic challenger this year in Cieniawski, but this seat has belonged to Republicans for a long time.

County Supervisor District 3

Republican
Kate Brophy McGee – 72.23% (40,933)
Tabatha Cuellar Lavoie – 27.35% (15,503)

Democrat
Daniel Valenzuela – 99.62% (53,263)

With District 3 supervisor Bill Gates not seeking reelection, Brophy McGee, a former state legislator and self-described moderate, is poised to replace him on the GOP ticket. She’ll move on to face Valenzuela, a former Phoenix City Councilmember and mayoral candidate who is hoping to flip the district blue.

County Supervisor District 4

Republican
Debbie Lesko – 72.08% (69,537)
Bob Branch – 27.65% (26,679)

Democrat
David Sandoval – 99.59% (47,334)

Lesko is giving up a seat in the U.S. House for quite a demotion in rank. Given that the Board of Supervisors oversees elections — and that the incumbent supervisor, Clink Hickman, is leaving in the wake of election-denial harassment — it’s especially notable that Lesko voted against certifying the 2020 election results while in Congress.

She’ll take on Sandoval in the general election, although he faces an uphill battle in a solidly conservative district.

County Supervisor District 5

Republican
Ann Niemann – 98.93% (16,298)

Democrat
Steve Gallardo – 99.49% (31,050)

No primary drama here, and there’s not likely to be any general election drama, either. District 5 is the one solidly Democratic seat on the Board of Supervisors, and Gallardo has held it since 2014.