NW Valley Times

Representative Austin Smith (R-AZ) has criticized Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes following her announcement that two board supervisors have been indicted by a Grand Jury for questioning the results of Arizona's 2022 election. These criticisms emerged amidst a tumultuous political landscape as Republican lawmakers continue to raise concerns about the state's electoral processes.

Austin Smith, Representative at State of Arizona, referred to Mayes as the "Activist General of Arizona." He suggested that the indictments reflect a politicization of the Attorney General’s office, potentially undermining its commitment to impartial justice.

The charges were announced against Cochise County Supervisors Peggy S. Judd, 61, and Terry Thomas "Tom" Crosby, 64, who are now facing Class 5 felonies for contesting the outcomes of the 2022 Arizona election. The dispute arose when the supervisors initially declined to certify election results where Democratic candidates—including Kris Mayes—secured victories by a small margin. However, following a court order issued in response to their lack of evidence supporting these claims, both Judd and Crosby were directed to adhere to and verify the results. According to reports from local media outlet 12 News, both opted to comply after this judicial intervention.

Concerns about Attorney General Mayes potentially abusing her authority have been raised not only by Rep. Austin Smith but also Sen. Jake Hoffman (R-AZ) and other Republican lawmakers after hearing of these indictments. According to Hoffman's post on an unnamed platform (referred hereafter as Platform X), he unequivocally stated that this was "ELECTION INTERFERENCE by an extremist AG who wants to chill any future efforts by local election officials to challenge potentially inaccurate elections." He continued his critique by underscoring what he viewed as "the dangerousness of the precedent that could be set here."

Mayes responded robustly in a press release from her office saying: "The repeated attempts to undermine our democracy are unacceptable." She asserted her commitment to the law and her office's determination to "continue to enforce Arizona’s elections laws and support our election officials as they carry out the duties and responsibilities of their offices."

Rep. Rachel Jones echoed Smith's sentiment on Platform X, calling for action against Kris Mayes' use of the AG's office. She asked, "O.K. Arizona House Republicans and Arizona Senate Republican, what are we going to do about Kris Mayes weaponizing the AG's office against AZ citizens?" Expressing her concerns over the potential future implications if left unchecked, she stated that "if we don't do something now, the trajectory will only spiral downward."

Since the November 2022 results were published, Republican lawmakers have continued raising numerous allegations of a flawed election. Prominent among those expressing concerns were former Republican candidate for the attorney general position Abe Hamadeh and former Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake. Hamadeh lost to Mayes by a slim margin of just 280 votes according to records from the Arizona Daily Independent.