Stephen Richer, the incumbent, was defeated by State Rep. Justin Heap. Richer had previously taken office in early 2021 after unseating a Democratic incumbent.
Heap also defeated information technology professor Donald Hiatt in the Republican primary. Heap will go on to face the lone Democrat in the race, Tim Stringham, in the Nov. 5 general election.
The recorder’s office covers a wide range of services locally, including processing and preserving property records as well as overseeing the voter files for the county, according to the office’s website.
The office further explained on its website that it partners with the Maricopa County Elections Department to plan and hold all elections in the county.
Turnout was relatively low according to the unofficial election results on the Maricopa County recorder’s website, with only 25 percent of registered voters in the county voting.
A total of 626,191 ballots were cast in the primaries out of 2.4 million registered voters, according to the recorder’s website.
In the recorder race for the Democratic primary, lone candidate Stringham received 221,904 votes.
On the Republican side, Heap received 133,561 votes, or 42.3 percent, of the vote; Richer received 113,090 votes, or 35.8 percent, of the vote; and Hiatt received 68,563 votes, or 21.7 percent, of the vote.
Arizona is seen as a key battleground state in the 2024 presidential election and the race for the U.S. Senate. Maricopa County’s 2.4 million registered voters will be key to winning the swing state, which President Joe Biden narrowly won in 2020 and former President Donald Trump won in 2016.
The county will also play an important role in the race to fill the U.S. Senate seat of Kyrsten Sinema, who decided not to seek reelection in November.
