The Arizona general election will be held on November 8, 2016. Reproductive health care access has been under attack, both nationally and statewide, but Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona has endorsed candidates who have shown strong commitment to reproductive justice. To acquaint you with our endorsed candidates, we are running a series called “Meet Our Candidates.” In order to vote in the election, you must register to vote by October 10 — and can even register online. Make your voice heard in 2016!
[A]drian Fontes, a Democrat, is running for Maricopa County Recorder, an office that became the target of public rage and national bad press during the Presidential Preference Election on March 22, 2016, when thousands of voters found themselves stranded in long lines at Maricopa County polling places.
The current recorder, Republican Helen Purcell, had reduced the number of polling places from more than 200 to 60, causing bottlenecks and preventing some voters from casting ballots.
“The disenfranchisement of thousands of voters is contrary to the principles this country was founded on.”
Fontes, a father of three daughters, decided to run because he was outraged by the events of March 22. Mother Jones headlined an April 11 story about him: “Angered by Arizona’s Botched Election, One Man Decides to Run for Office.”
In his August 12, 2016, email to Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona, he said that “the disenfranchisement of thousands of voters is contrary to the principles this country was founded on. This needs to stop. We need solutions, not excuses. My campaign is about protecting democracy for every voter.”
At an Arizona House Elections Committee hearing after the debacle, an angry Fontes said, to cheers and applause, “A political culture that worships at the altar of slashing budgets will eventually lead to the complete collapse of our most sacred democratic institutions: the right for Americans to vote. You are as responsible for this as anyone else.”
Fontes, who speaks fluent Spanish, graduated summa cum laude from the Arizona State University Honors College in 1998 with a bachelor’s degree in communication.
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I am an Arizona Native, former U.S. Marine, small business owner, and attorney with more than 10 years experience in criminal prosecution, law enforcement, and issues of Constitutional rights. Continue reading