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While we were largely focused on the US Senate race in Arizona, other contests in the state have also been closely watched.
As my colleague Ed Pilkington writes, the victory of Adrian Fontes, the Democratic candidate for secretary of state, may come to be seen as one of the most significant results of the 2022 elections in terms of the future of American democracy.
Fontes beat Mark Finchem, a rabid election denier and member of the far-right Oath Keepers militia who was present at the US Capitol on the day of the 6 January 2021 insurrection.
Finchem has made repeated efforts to overturn Joe Biden’s win in Arizona in the 2020 election, in favor of his idol Donald Trump.
By frustrating Finchem’s efforts to secure the secretary of state position, Fontes, a former Marine, has prevented both local and federal election administration in Arizona falling into the hands of an avid opponent of democratic norms.
