North Pima News

Representative Jacqueline Parker (R-AZ) has expressed her criticism towards Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes after the recent indictment of two board supervisors who questioned the state's 2022 election results. This controversy brings the issue of election integrity and equal treatment under the law in Arizona into sharp focus.

Jacqueline Parker stated, "If Mayes wants to get all righteous about election integrity, there are A LOT of other BOS members who need to be indicted as well. Or do we NOT have equal treatment under the law in AZ?"

In a recent development, Attorney General Mayes announced that Cochise County Supervisors Peggy S. Judd, 61, and Terry Thomas "Tom" Crosby, 64, are facing Class 5 felonies for challenging the outcomes of the 2022 Arizona election. These supervisors initially resisted certifying the results where Democratic candidates including Kris Mayes secured victories by a small margin. However, following a court order citing lack of evidence to their claims, both Judd and Crosby complied with directives to confirm and validate the results.

After these indictments were made public, concerns have arisen about whether Attorney General Mayes is overstepping her authority. According to a post on platform X by Senator Jake Hoffman (R-AZ), "Make no mistake, this is ELECTION INTERFERENCE by an extremist AG who wants to chill any future efforts by local election officials to challenge potentially inaccurate elections," Hoffman said. He continued expressing concern about "the dangerousness of the precedent that could be set here."

Mayes addressed these accusations in a press release stating: "The repeated attempts to undermine our democracy are unacceptable," she asserted that she took an oath to uphold rule of law and promised her office will continue enforcing Arizona’s elections laws and supporting election officials as they fulfill their duties.

Meanwhile Rep. Rachel Jones questioned what actions House Republicans would take against Kris Mayes for allegedly using her position to target Arizona citizens. She also suggested inaction could lead to a downward spiral, based on her statement on platform X.

Since the November 2022 election results, several Republican lawmakers have pointed out potential flaws in the process. Notably, former Republican candidates for high-ranking positions, Abe Hamadeh and Kari Lake expressed concerns after narrowly losing their respective races.