PHOENIX — Republican Mark Brnovich jumped out to a solid early lead Tuesday over Democrat Felecia Rotellini in a race for Arizona attorney general that focused extensively on the candidates' credentials as former prosecutors. He was declared the winner about 8:45 p.m.
Early returns showed Brnovich leading by nearly 7 percentage points.
Brnovich campaigned on his criminal prosecution experience and background running the state's gaming department. Rotellini says her experience working in the attorney general's office and as the state's banking regulator qualifies her as attorney general.
The Republican's supporters cast Rotellini as lacking criminal trial experience and being soft on border security. Rotellini went after Brnovich for his ties to the private prison industry and anti-abortion groups.
The attorney general represents state agencies and is responsible for taking on civil rights, consumer protection and complex business fraud cases.
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Brnovich defeated scandal-plagued Attorney General Tom Horne in the Republican primary after focusing on the incumbent's many legal issues in his first four years in office. Rotellini nearly toppled Horne in the 2010 race.
Both candidates said they would fight proposed Environmental Protection Agency carbon-emission rules that would hurt the state's coal-fired power plants, and they also pledged to fight Mexican cartels that smuggle people and drugs into Arizona.
