Incumbent Attorney General Kris Mayes and her GOP challenger, Warren Petersen, will meet for a debate on Sept. 23 as they jostle for undecided voters in a race that will likely come down to a narrow margin.
Mayes, a Democrat, is seeking a second term as Arizona's top law enforcement officer. Petersen, a Republican state lawmaker since 2013 and the current president of the Arizona Senate, contends she's not fit for the task.
The two offer starkly different approaches to running the office. Both have said they will prioritize consumer protection and emphasize public safety, but they diverge on other issues.
Mayes has sued President Donald Trump's administration nearly 50 times in the last two years, and Petersen has said he would end Mayes' "lawfare"
against the White House. He's also said he would drop a case related to an effort to subvert the outcome of the 2020 presidential election, a case Mayes brought but that has been dismissed after prosecutorial errors and would need to go before a new grand jury.
The hourlong debate is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. It is hosted by the Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission, the state's voter education agency, in partnership with the Arizona Media Association. It will be streamed live at the top of this story.
The debate could be contentious.
In a debate before the July 21 primary, Petersen delved into personal and unproven attacks that had circulated on social media targeting his GOP opponent, Rodney Glassman. Petersen went on to defeat Glassman by almost 13 percentage points.
Mayes did not have a challenger in the primary. A former reporter who later was an elected member of the Arizona Corporation Commission, she is no stranger to using her public platform or frequent news conferences to critique anyone, including Petersen. Mayes was elected attorney general by just 280 votes in 2022, flipping the office from red to blue.
Five polls in the race, each fielded in August, showed Mayes in the lead. Two of those were within the margin of error, signaling the race was close and a decisive share of undecided voters remained up for grabs.
Early voting begins on Oct. 7 and Election Day is Nov. 3.
Reach reporter Stacey Barchenger at stacey.barchenger@arizonarepublic.com or 480-416-5669.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Kris Mayes, Warren Petersen debate in Arizona attorney general race
