Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen (R-Gilbert) is running for Arizona Attorney General on a platform of restoring trust to the office, which is currently held by Democrat Kris Mayes. Mayes has aggressively sued the Trump administration more than most state attorneys general. Petersen is facing off in the Republican primary first against Rodney Glassman.
Petersen is ahead of Glassman in every poll. The most recent poll, conducted by Petersen’s campaign, showed Petersen 11 points ahead. When voters were provided information from the campaign contrasting Petersen’s record with Glassman’s, the gap increased, with 54% choosing Petersen to 10.1% picking Glassman.
Petersen’s criticism of Mayes includes her failure to defend the state from numerous lawsuits. Petersen defended them instead through the Arizona Legislature. “As Senate President, I’ve taken part in over 110 lawsuits to ensure Arizona’s laws and interests are defended when the Attorney General wouldn’t act,” he said in an op-ed for AZ Free News. Petersen describes himself as the “de facto AG” due to taking on this role.
One of the lawsuits that Mayes declined to defend the state against was a challenge to Arizona’s ban on biological males competing in female sports at schools. Petersen co-sponsored the bill, and had the Arizona Legislature step in instead to defend the law. The Supreme Court ruled on June 30 that bans like Arizona’s do not violate the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment or Title IX.
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