Alex Kolodin leads GOP primary race for Arizona secretary of state

Alex Kolodin leads GOP primary race for Arizona secretary of state

State Representative Alex Kolodin is heavily favored to secure the Republican nomination for Arizona secretary of state in the July 21 primary. According to a recent NextGen Polling poll, the Scottsdale lawmaker holds a 44-20 lead over his opponent, Gina Swoboda.

The race to challenge incumbent Democrat Adrian Fontes has become a focal point for tensions surrounding election integrity. Kolodin, a lawyer and member of the legislature's far-right Freedom Caucus, has claimed that U.S. Elections, including those in Arizona, are rigged and unfair. He also denies the legitimacy of the 2020 election loss of President Donald Trump to Joe Biden.

Kolodin's legal history includes participation in the kraken lawsuits alongside Sidney Powell, which alleged massive election fraud in 2020. He also represented some of the Republican fake electors who sought to set aside Arizona's certified 2020 results. After the state's kraken case was dismissed, the state bar formally admonished Kolodin and required him to complete legal ethics classes for filing suits that lacked merit.

In the statehouse, Kolodin has sponsored a constitutional amendment to allow counties to use hand-counted voting tallies. He has also proposed the Arizona Secure Elections Act, which would mandate that voters provide government-issued identification to cast a ballot. The GOP-run legislature voted last month to place this plan on the fall general election ballot to bypass a veto from Governor Katie Hobbs.

Gina Swoboda, a former Democrat, has questioned Kolodin's viability in a general election. During a May 14 candidate forum on Arizona PBS, she asked viewers:

"Do you seriously think that my opponent could possibly beat Adrian Fontes in the general election?"

Gina Swoboda, candidate for secretary of state, via Arizona PBS

Swoboda previously served as the head of the state Republican party with Trump's blessing and ran voter integrity operations for the Trump campaign in Arizona in 2020. She also led the Voter Reference Foundation, a Trump-aligned nonprofit. A ProPublica investigation reported that the foundation claimed to find large discrepancies in voter files in other states during the Nov. 3, 2020 election. Swoboda briefly ran for Congress in 2025 before switching her focus to the secretary of state's race.

Kolodin has countered by citing Swoboda's history as a Democrat and her time as an aide to Hobbs, stating:

"This is definitely not someone stable enough to be our chief elections officer,"

Alex Kolodin, state representative, via Arizona PBS

The role of secretary of state involves maintaining the voter registration database, certifying election equipment, and writing the Elections Procedures Manual. Former Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer, a Republican and senior fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School, noted that the position has become a bully pulpit since 2020. Richer suggested that if Kolodin behaves consistently with his past actions, it could damage confidence and make coordination between the state and its 15 counties more challenging.

Richer argued that Swoboda would lead the office responsibly and facilitate lawful elections, whereas Kolodin's claims could undermine the process.

The primary takes place amid ongoing conflict between Maricopa County supervisors and the county recorder, though officials reached an agreement last week on how to jointly oversee the vote. The winner of the Republican primary will face Adrian Fontes in the general election this November.