Republican David Lara leads Democrat Emilia Cortez by nearly 10,000 votes in the race for Yuma County Recorder, with some votes still to be counted.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Lara looks to be the choice for Yuma County voters.
Lara gained fame in recent years for his claims of irregularities and outright fraud he says he witnessed first-hand for years in elections in the city of San Luis, Arizona. He says vote harvesting, in particular, was exported to other states to influence 2020 elections.
Lara also was a featured speaker at this year’s Republican National Convention, where he highlighted his concerns over illegal immigration and the impacts on border communities.
A month after Lara won his July primary race, the Yuma County Board of Supervisors voted to end a pilot program that had placed responsibility for elections under the Yuma Recorder, an approach that was unique among counties in the state.
Ric Colwell, the Republican Lara will replace, told KAWC over the summer that the pilot project allowed more flexibility and faster response to issues with registration and voting.
Following the vote, responsibility for elections was placed with committee that includes Board members, an attorney and the sitting Recorder. Supervisor Lynne Pancrazi said after the August vote that since both Recorder candidates would be new to office the separation of registration and voting would give them time to acclimate.
Lara told KAWC he thinks the move was to separate him from elections, prompting him to ask, “what are they afraid of?”
Lara rode a wave of Republican support in Yuma County that, according to the most recent numbers, shows former President Donald Trump adding to his 2020 margin of victory in the county. Trump’s 2020 margin was +6 over Biden. As of Wednesday afternoon, Trump was +30 over Democrat Kamala Harris.
