Warren Petersen, who aided Trump’s 2020 election probe, secures Arizona GOP attorney general nomination
Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen, an election denier who surrendered the state’s 2020 election records to the Trump administration, won the Republican primary for attorney general Tuesday.
Petersen will face incumbent Attorney General Kris Mayes (D) in November.
His nomination puts a Republican aligned with Trump’s renewed campaign to relitigate the 2020 election one step closer to controlling the state office responsible for protecting voter information, defending Arizona’s election laws and prosecuting election crimes.
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Earlier this year, Petersen complied with a federal grand jury subpoena and handed the FBI records from the Arizona Senate’s partisan review of Maricopa County’s 2020 election. The review, conducted by the inexperienced firm Cyber Ninjas, failed to uncover evidence of widespread fraud and confirmed that former President Joe Biden won the county.
After Mayes and Secretary of State Adrian Fontes (D) sought details about whether sensitive voter information had been shared, Petersen referred both officials to the Justice Department for investigation.
“Today I referred Kris Mayes and Adrian Fontes to the Department of Justice for obstruction of justice and tampering with a witness,” Petersen said in April. “The Arizona Attorney General and Secretary of State’s actions may constitute obstruction of justice and witness tampering.”
Petersen has spent years denying the 2020 results and promoting claims of widespread fraud. During his campaign, he promised to expand the attorney general’s Election Integrity Unit, which investigates alleged election crimes.
“People will know we’re serious about it,” Petersen said, “Just like they know the Trump DOJ is serious about it right now.”
Mayes has taken the opposite approach, fighting Trump administration efforts to obtain Arizona’s voter database and expand federal control over elections.
Petersen’s victory sets up a crucial November contest over whether Arizona’s top legal office continues protecting the state’s voters and resisting Trump’s election interference — or becomes an ally in his administration’s campaign to reopen 2020 and seize greater control over state-run elections.