Rebekah L. Sanders

The Republic | azcentral.com

Incumbent Helen Purcell formally conceded the race for Maricopa County recorder to rival Adrian Fontes Tuesday, pledging to "do everything I can to make this a seamless transition."

Fontes, a Democrat and political newcomer, continued to lead the Republican Purcell by roughly 13,000 votes late Monday as counting continued on the remaining batch of early-voting ballots. The Arizona Republic projected Fontes the winner Monday evening.

"I want to congratulate Adrian Fontes on a hard fought race," Purcell said in a written statement released midday Tuesday. Purcell will leave office in January after holding it for nearly three decades.

"I want to express my appreciation to everyone who voted, regardless of how they voted," Purcell said. "I’ve spent my career dedicated to our election process, and there is no greater joy than seeing such high turnout and participation."

Fontes, an attorney, is the first Democrat elected to the office in at least 50 years.

The race was tight to the end, with only a percentage point separating the candidates. However, The Republic projected late Monday that Purcell could not make up the difference given the number of ballots remaining to count.

Fontes timed his campaign expertly. He announced his candidacy the day after Purcell's office fumbled the March presidential-preference election. Her plan to cut polling places backfired, leaving thousands of enraged voters standing in line, some past midnight, to cast their ballots.

ROBERTS: Helen Purcell had to go

Fontes also was challenging a 28-year incumbent during a nationwide election marked by a throw-the-bums-out attitude. Taking advantage of heightened public anxiety over election systems being hacked, manipulated or rigged, he played up Purcell's missteps and emphasized his task in the Marine Corps of protecting sensitive documents.

Fontes defied the Republican voter-registration advantage, helped by a war chest nearly six times Purcell's.

Purcell, widely respected by both parties for years, was increasingly seen as out-of-touch and insensitive to recent complaints, and she struggled to manifest a robust campaign operation.

Her main platform was her experience and improvements she had made to the office.

The Maricopa County Democratic Party mounted its largest effort in decades to take county offices. Two of the five candidates prevailed: Fontes and Democrat Paul Penzone, who beat Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio in a dramatic rout.

Democrat Michelle Robertson appeared headed for defeat in the Maricopa County School Superintendent race against Republican Steve Watson, as the latter led by 2 percentage points or nearly 40,000 votes Monday night. With a Watson victory, Republicans would retain 8 of the county's 11 elected seats.

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