REPUBLICAN INCUMBENTS TUMBLE:
First-time candidate wins primary in stunning upset
Secretary of State Michele Reagan appeared to face a stunning upset by little-known businessman Steve Gaynor. Schools Superintendent Diane Douglas was trailing two GOP opponents for her seat.
Wealthy businessman Steve Gaynor soundly defeated incumbent Arizona Secretary of State Michele Reagan in the Republican primary election for her post.
Reagan’s defeat — unofficial results Tuesday night showed Gaynor with nearly 70 percent of the vote — was a stunning upset for a longtime public official facing a first-time candidate.
In Arizona, the secretary of state is the chief elections officer, the No. 2 statewide elected official and first in line to succeed the governor if he or she leaves office early. That has happened numerous times in recent state history.
Gaynor, a millionaire who owns a printing plant in Los Angeles, watched election results come in with family and supporters at his home in Paradise Valley.
“I am really gratified to see that people felt I was the right person for the job,” Gaynor told The Arizona Republic. “I think people want the office run properly. I think they’re tired of problems with elections.”
Gaynor declared victory in a Twitter post in which he thanked supporters, saying, “Friends, tonight has been a proud and humbling experience.”
Concerns about missteps during Reagan’s tenure dominated the race from the outset. Her office has faced broad criticism over problems related to election publicity pamphlets and campaign finance websites.
Reagan conceded the race in a brief press statement released Tuesday night.
“It’s been an amazing adventure and wonderful to serve the people of Arizona,” she wrote. “I’m very excited to start the next chapter of my life.”
During the campaign, Reagan said she had moved on from her missteps and “fixed what needed to be fixed.” She said the errors were, in part, a result of trying to change too much during the busy 2016 election cycle.
“My office was held accountable,” she said repeatedly during the campaign. “And we’re actually grateful for that because we learned from it. Arizonans have an elections system right now that they can be really proud of.”
Reagan, a former state lawmaker whoserved 12 years in the Legislature, was elected secretary in 2014. She has worked to modernize the office with new technology, efforts she said have been underappreciated.
Gaynor was unknown to most Arizona voters before he jumped in the race in February. He gained traction after pouring $1.5 million of his own money into the campaign.
Among Reagan’s biggest stumbles was her failure to mail publicity pamphlets to about 200,000 households in time for a May 2016 special election — a violation of state law.
She was also criticized over problems with election websites, as well as the hours-long lines Maricopa County voters faced at the polls in the state’s 2016 Presidential Preference Election.
Reagan said county officials were responsible for cutting the number of polling places, but critics argue she should have warned the county its plan was inadequate.
Meanwhile, Reagan questioned why Gaynor would spend over $1 million of his own money to run for a statewide office that often deals with mundane administrative tasks, like the logistics administering elections.
Her campaign accused Gaynor of trying to buy a stepping stone to the Governor’s Office, a charge he denied
Both candidates said they have no interest in becoming governor. But that possibility has loomed large in the race given four secretaries of state have risen to the governor’s chair since the 1970s.
Pro-Trump conservative vs. moderate Republican
Stylistic and ideological differences between Reagan and Gaynor also arose during the campaign.
Gaynor, who describes himself as a “100 percent pro-Trump guy,” tried to cast himself as the conservative in the race. He emphasized that he opposes abortion, is a lifelong member of the National Rifle Association and supports border security.
Reagan, a moderate Republican, accused Gaynor of “pandering” on those topics given the secretary’s office doesn’t deal with policy issues in those areas.
But Gaynor’s appeal to conservative voters stirred controversy after he was filmed, during a GOP candidate forum, saying the United States should stop printing ballots in any language other than English.
Democrats blasted the comments, and Reagan accused him of trying to court “extreme nationalist groups.”
Gaynor clarified that he thinks states should be able to decide if they want to print ballots in other languages. He said he would comply with federal votingrights laws on the subject if elected.
The GOP nominee will face Democrat Katie Hobbs, the current minority leader in the state Senate, in the Nov. 6 general election. She ran unopposed in the primary.