A small group of Republicans announced on Monday that they support Tim Stringham, the Democratic candidate for Maricopa County Recorder, saying they cannot vote for Republican Justin Heap.

The group included Mesa City Councilmember Julie Spilsbury, former John McCain aide Bettina Nava, and local business owner Ann Wallack. The three said they would not vote for Heap, a current state lawmaker, because of his alignment with “extreme” candidates and his plans to overhaul election processes. 

Spilsbury said she and Heap run in the same circles, as they both live in the Mesa area and are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, but she said she cannot “in good conscience” vote for him. 

“We cannot have someone in this office who continues to deny election results,” Spilsbury said at a press conference on Monday. “We cannot have someone who calls our elections a ‘laughing stock.’” 

Spilsbury told the Arizona Capitol Times that she is hearing similar sentiments from her Republican friends, though not everyone is willing to come out publicly and admit they will vote for a Democrat. She said she also plans to vote for Kamala Harris over Donald Trump and Ruben Gallego over Kari Lake.

Nava, a Republican strategist who served both on McCain’s campaigns and in his Senate office, highlighted Heap’s endorsements from “extremists” like Lake and former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. She also referenced his tendency to skip out on debates and avoid interviews with the press. 

“We don’t need more election denialism,” Nava said at the press conference. “We don’t need someone to sneak into office without facing the press or having to talk to the voters. What we need is a competent county recorder.” 

Heap has not outright said whether or not he believes the 2020 or 2022 elections were stolen, but he has aligned himself with candidates like Trump, Lake and Abe Hamadeh, who all promote conspiracy theories related to their failed campaigns. That led many Republicans, like Spilsbury, Nava and Wallack, to throw support behind Stringham after incumbent Recorder Stephen Richer lost in the Republican primary in July.

Wallack even compared Stringham to Richer at the press conference, saying he will work to increase voter confidence, “much like Stephen Richer” has in his four years in office. 

Nava said it didn’t feel like a stretch for her to support Stringham, who is a Navy veteran like McCain was and plans to uphold many of the county’s election processes that Heap has been supportive of removing, like early voting.

Many of Heap’s supporters have said Stringham’s lack of experience in public office means he won’t make a good recorder, but Spilsbury said she thinks it could be an asset.

“I think sometimes that’s what we need,” Spilsbury said. “We don’t want people who’ve already been in and have maybe become cynical.”

Spilsbury said she has seen firsthand the effects of political polarization and election denialism on county officials and workers during the last four years and that she admires Stringham for his willingness to jump in the race despite that. 

“I know some of these men personally, and what they have had to experience is absolutely horrible,” Spilsbury said. “To know that someone’s willingly going to jump in to do that … I just admire it so much.”

Nava encouraged voters to consider Stringham as an opportunity to bring competency back to the recorder’s office now that Richer will not be returning. 

“[Stringham is] here to just simply be a professional,” Nava said during the press conference. “And we’ve had professionals in our history, so let’s bring one back.”