Fontes, Finchem matchup appears likely in race for Secretary of State

PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) -- Adrian Fontes appears to be heading for victory against Reginald Bolding for the Democratic nomination for Arizona Secretary of State. While the race hasn’t been called yet, Fontes is leading by 6 percent as of Wednesday night. Mark Finchem has already secured the Republican nomination. He was one of the lawmakers pushing to overturn the 2020 election and was outside the Capitol during the riot. This is setting up a race for the position that would oversee elections in our state between two very different candidates.

“What I hope to do is bring folks back into the world of reality, when it comes to election administration,” said Fontes.

Fontes was the top election official for Maricopa County when elected as county recorder in 2016. Now, he is campaigning on his experience running elections. “For the most part, Arizona has a phenomenal election system,” said Fontes.

Meanwhile, Finchem continues to push false claims of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election. Arizona’s Family reached out to him for an interview Wednesday but did not hear back. However, we caught up with Finchem during a rally Tuesday night. “When I get elected, I’ll take my partisan hat off and I represent people, not parties. Unlike the current Secretary of State,” said Finchem.

This week, Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich debunked claims that hundreds of dead people voted in the 2020 election and only found evidence of one dead voter at the time of the election. “Where is your proof there is fraud? Where is the actual evidence? Show it to us, because there is none,” said Fontes.

Arizona’s Family also reached out to Bolding on Wednesday, but he denied our request for an interview.

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