On Wednesday, Republican candidate for the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office, Justin Heap, received congratulations from his opponent, Democrat Tim Stringham on Wednesday.
According to Stringham, he conceded the race to Heap after Tuesday’s results showed Heap winning 51.8% to 48.2%, with over 1.2 million votes counted.
Heap, currently an Arizona State Representative, released the following statement.
I am humbled and honored to have been elected as the next Maricopa County Recorder. A short while ago, I spoke with Tim Stringham who conceded the race and congratulated me on my victory.
I am grateful for the trust that the voters have placed in me. I intend to fulfill my promise of being a Recorder for every voter because protecting the integrity of our elections is an issue that impacts us all.
It is undeniably true that past elections, under both parties and spanning more than a decade, have denigrated our county’s reputation and made us the laughing stock of the nation.
That ends today.
Throughout my campaign, I made my promises to restore trust in our elections and respect all voters an issue of paramount importance — and I intend to deliver on those promises.
I look forward to immediately beginning the work of transitioning into the office, and working with the legislature to develop a common sense legislative agenda that will make our elections more effective, efficient, and most importantly, honest, while allowing us to deliver faster election results in the 2026 and 2028 elections.
I give all the glory to God and the people of Maricopa County for this victory and offer my heartfelt gratitude to my wife and children for their unwavering love and support throughout this campaign. I must also offer my most sincere appreciation to my campaign manager, Jeff Caldwell, for his never quit attitude and ability to deliver results. Finally, none of this would have been possible without the support and encouragement of the chief architect of my campaign strategy, Arizona Freedom Caucus Chairman Jake Hoffman.
We have a lot of work ahead of us, but if we all work together, in good faith, I know that we will produce election improvements and optimizations that will restore Maricopa County to its rightful place as the preeminent leader in elections management in all of America. Now let’s get to work.
Heap defeated current Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer in the Republican Primary in August.
Just four years ago, Richer ran on a similar platform of restoring integrity and competence to the nationally embarrassing office, but his tenure was largely considered a failure and, while he made new fans on the left and in the mainstream media, he quickly lost the support of more than half of the County’s voters through what many describe as “his hubris, pettiness, defensiveness, utter incompetence and combativeness.”
