Overview
- The candidates met in a statewide forum that aired on Arizona PBS, and the Aug. 31 debate turned heated as they traded accusations and reporters pressed Kolodin on his views.
- Kolodin repeatedly declined to say that Arizona’s elections are safe and dodged whether he trusts the 2020 results, arguing instead that voter confidence is low.
- Fontes defended the current election system as secure, cited federal court rulings that blocked requests for unredacted voter rolls, and accused Kolodin of helping spread the “Big Lie.”
- Kolodin was a lawyer on post‑2020 challenges that a federal judge dismissed for lacking reliable evidence and was placed on an 18‑month State Bar probation for related conduct.
- Kolodin sponsors Proposition 144, which would require ID to cast any ballot and could disrupt Arizona’s heavy mail‑voting system that recently accounted for about 80% of ballots, so observers expect legal fights and practical implementation questions before November.