PHOENIX — State Sen. Michele Reagan defeated a longtime member of the Arizona Democratic political establishment on Tuesday night to become the next secretary of state.
Reagan topped former Attorney General Terry Goddard after a campaign that focused on voting rights and questions about how partisan the secretary of state's office should be.
She also overcame questions about her voting record and a shaky debate performance where she struggled to articulate about being ready to serve as governor.
"What a great night to be a Republican," Reagan said after unofficial results had her winning by nearly 5 percent of the vote. "I have never been so proud to be a Republican."
Goddard, also a former Phoenix mayor, was attempting a comeback after losing in the 2010 governor's race.
He said dark money paid for attack ads, smears and falsehoods in the campaign
"One thing is clear here in Arizona and across the country. Dark money is real, and dark money is very, very powerful," Goddard said. "Every Republican victor owes dark-money forces for their victory."
Reagan, who served in the Legislature since 2002, had the endorsement of most of the GOP political establishment including Gov. Jan Brewer.
The campaign focused on issues including voting rights and Reagan's voting record as a state lawmaker.
The secretary of state is Arizona's top elections officer, oversees business filings and becomes governor if there's a midterm vacancy in that office. Brewer was secretary of state in 2009 when then-Gov. Janet Napolitano joined the Obama administration, elevating her to Arizona's chief executive.
In pre-general election debates, Reagan and Goddard sparred over Arizona's new two-tier voting system, changes to elections laws and even a vetoed bill that drew the ire of supporters of gay rights.
Goddard attacked Reagan for her vote for Senate Bill 1062, a bill passed by the Legislature as a religious-rights law but which was vetoed by Brewer after it almost cost the state the Super Bowl because of fears it legalized discrimination against gays and lesbians.
Reagan called it one "bad vote" out of 10,000 she's made in her 12 years in the Legislature.
Goddard, who repeatedly said he wants to restore the public's trust by eliminating partisanship in the secretary of state's office, said it showed Reagan can't be trusted to be nondiscriminatory.
She and Goddard also sparred over changes to the state's early voting list, which were included in a now-repealed 2013 election overhaul law Reagan helped pass.
The two took opposite positions on Arizona's system of blocking voters using a federal registration form from casting ballots in state races.
Arizona set up the system and is using it for the first time this year after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the state must accept a federal form that doesn't require proof of citizenship. Arizona and Kansas are in court trying to force the federal commission that created the form to allow a proof-of-citizenship requirement.
Goddard said the state should have waited until the court made the decision instead of spending $2 million to set up a separate system that just 21 voters used in August's primary. Reagan said Arizona voters required proof of citizenship and the state had to act.
