Alexander Kolodin wins Arizona GOP nod for secretary of state
NBC News projects the Republican state lawmaker will take on Democratic Secretary of State Adrian Fontes in November.
By Frankie Delgado · News Reporter
2 min read
Republican state Rep. Alexander Kolodin has won Arizona’s GOP primary for secretary of state, NBC News projects, setting up a November race against Democratic incumbent Adrian Fontes.
Kolodin defeated Gina Swoboda, a former chair of the Arizona Republican Party, for the nomination, according to NBC News. The race puts a sharp spotlight on who will run elections in one of the country’s most watched battleground states.
The Arizona secretary of state serves as the state’s chief elections officer. According to the office’s website, the job includes helping certify voting equipment, election results, candidates, ballot measures and statewide results.
Kolodin has often raised doubts about past election outcomes in interviews, NBC News reported. He also led several lawsuits seeking to overturn results from the 2020 and 2022 elections in Arizona, according to NBC News and KJZZ, drawing rebukes from judges and the state bar association.
His campaign has support from Turning Point USA, a conservative nonprofit group, as well as several Republican members of Congress from Arizona, according to NBC News.
Election fight heads to November
In a joint PBS interview with Swoboda, Kolodin said Arizona voters want elections run with greater transparency.
“They are not getting that from Adrian Fontes; they will get that from me,” Kolodin said in the interview.
Kolodin also said voters in the primary and across Arizona had “serious concerns” about election administration, and argued that confidence in the system requires more observers at polling locations, according to the PBS interview cited by NBC News.
Fontes, who is seeking a second term, previously oversaw elections in Maricopa County, Arizona’s largest county. NBC News reported that he has been a vocal critic of President Donald Trump and Trump allies’ efforts to undermine confidence in election results in Arizona and beyond.
Fontes won the secretary of state’s office in 2022 by defeating a Trump-endorsed Republican opponent, according to NBC News.
As secretary of state, Fontes administered Arizona’s 2024 election, which Trump won on his way to a second term as president, according to Arizona Mirror reporting cited by NBC News. Trump had narrowly lost Arizona in 2020.
The matchup now puts Kolodin’s election record and Fontes’ defense of Arizona’s voting system at the center of a statewide contest with national stakes. The winner would be in office during the 2028 presidential campaign, when Arizona is expected to remain a key battleground.
This story draws on original reporting from NBC News.