PHOENIX — Pictures of Kris Mayes and her nine-year-old daughter are all around her central Phoenix home and so are campaign signs.
When the Democratic candidate for Arizona Attorney General started her campaign 16 months ago, Mayes told ABC15 she knew a large part of her platform would focus on protecting democracy.
“But I also, you know, imagined that we would be talking a little bit more about the core mission of this office, you know, and really getting into – and I have tried to get into – you know, the major duties of this office,” Mayes said.
When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade on June 24, 2022, abortion became a major campaign issue, not just for Mayes, but candidates across the ballot.
Mayes, who is pro-choice, said if she is elected to the Attorney General’s office, she will not prosecute any doctor, woman or friend who helps provide abortion care to a woman. Under the state constitution, she said, the right to privacy would include a woman's personal health decisions.
“My view is that all three of the anti-abortion laws that we have in the state of Arizona, including the 1864 abortion ban that would allow prosecutors to put doctors nurses, and pharmacists in prison, are unconstitutional,” Mayes said.
Before running for the attorney general’s office, Mayes worked for former Democratic Governor Janet Napolitano’s administration.
From 2003 to 2010, she served on the Arizona Corporation Commission.
From there, she went on to work as a senior sustainability scientist at ASU’s School of Global Sustainability, and teach at ASU’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, according to a biography on her campaign website.
Then, in 2019, the longtime Republican switched political parties.
“The Republican party left me a long time ago,” Mayes said. “It makes my heart heavy when I see my former party go down this road. It's not the party of John McCain anymore or a George W. Bush. It's a very different political party.”
Mayes pointed to one issue she sees plaguing the current Republican Party: unfounded lies about stolen or compromised elections.
“It is terrible that a portion of the Republican Party has been convinced by basically one man in this country, Donald Trump, that our elections are not secure,” Mayes said. “That is wrong. And I'll fight it with every fiber in my being when I'm Attorney General.”
Mayes noted she wants the federal government to provide more resources toward the U.S.-Mexico border, specifically at Arizona points of entry.
“I want to be clear, I believe there is a surge happening. We've got a problem. And I don't believe the federal government has done a good enough job handling the situation,” she said.
But, Mayes, who wants to “put politics at the doorstep” if she takes office in January of 2023, said she wants to handle the border without fanfare seen by current Attorney General Mark Brnovich, and Republican candidate for Governor, Kari Lake.
“Whoever the next governor is is going to have control or partial control of the $5 billion surplus that we have in the state of Arizona. So let's put some of that money toward the fentanyl crisis and toward addressing the situation at the border,” Mayes said. “But declaring an invasion, going down and doing press conferences and photo ops and selfies at the border really isn't solutions.”
The latest poll from OH Predictive Insights shows the Republican candidate for attorney general, Abraham “Abe” Hamadeh polling at 42%, with Mayes close behind at 39%. Given the +/-3.77% margin of error, the race to become Arizona’s next attorney general is in a dead heat.
“When I enter the office in January, I will put politics at the doorstep,” Mayes said. “We're gonna get back to prosecuting consumer fraud, prosecuting elder abuse, going after the federal crisis in our state, and protecting our water supplies.”
The 2022 midterm election takes place on Tuesday, November 8.