Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen (R-Mesa) announced recently that he is running for attorney general, challenging incumbent Democrat Kris Mayes. So far, only one other Republican has filed a Statement of Interest: Rodney Glassman, a formerly active Democrat and aide to the late Representative Raul Grijalva, who ran for office multiple times.
Petersen sat down with The Arizona Sun Times to explain why he decided to enter the race.
Petersen (pictured above), who was endorsed by Representative Andy Biggs (R-AZ-05) on Monday, said multiple key people recruited him to run. They perceived him as capable of beating Mayes since, in the last election, he outperformed even President Donald Trump in his East Valley district by 2.5 points. A poll taken before he decided to run showed him beating Mayes. Petersen said the best candidates can garner more support than Trump. He said someone once said that Arizona is a red state; it just has some bad Republican candidates.
He became a lawyer in 2020 after passing the bar exam. He has practiced real estate law and worked as a prosecutor. While working for the City of Scottsdale, he handled nine trials.
Petersen said he’s already acting with the Arizona Legislature as the “de facto AG” since Mayes refuses to defend the state’s conservative laws, prompting the legislature to step up and intervene.
Read the rest of the article at The Arizona Sun Times https://arizonasuntimes.com/news/arizona-senate-president-warren-petersen-running-for-attorney-general-since-legislature-is-already-acting-as-the-de-facto-ag/ralexander/2025/04/07/
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