The first debate between Trump-endorsed Republican Abraham Hamadeh and Democratic candidate Kris Mayes for Arizona Attorney General (AGO) took place Wednesday evening on Arizona PBS, sponsored by the Clean Elections Commission. The two candidates sparred for much of the time over whether the other was qualified for the position. Since Mayes has limited experience practicing as a lawyer, she heavily emphasized her experience “prosecuting” while a commissioner at the Arizona Corporation Commission, resulting in a sharp denunciation from sitting Commissioner Jim O’Connor.
O’Connor told The Arizona Sun Times the ACC does not prosecute crimes. “One of our eight divisions at the Arizona Corporation Commission is the securities division,” he said. “There is an entire separate legal group within it. They perform random audits and investigations, they find bad actors in the investment and broker dealer industries. That legal department takes care of all the civil procedures. If there is a criminal element to it, which there very often is, we then refer it and the file to the Arizona Attorney General for prosecution. She’s just making it sound like more than it is.”
When asked by the moderators how she was qualified to be the attorney general, Mayes asserted that as a corporation commissioner, she was a “judge” who had decided 2,700 cases. She said she and the other members (most of whom are not lawyers) “prosecuted securities fraud at the commission.”
She added that she “oversaw dozens of administrative judges” on the commission.
In response to the same question, Hamadeh said, “I’m the only candidate who’s actually practiced law and actually been a prosecutor. I’ve actually stepped foot in a courtroom, conducted trials.”
Read the rest of the article at The Arizona Sun Times
