Democrat Tim Stringham has taken a narrow lead over Republican state Rep. Justin Heap in the race for Maricopa County Recorder, according to the first round of election results.

Stringham has 50.12% to Heap’s 48.88% with nearly 44% of votes counted. 

Stringham and Heap have presented different visions for the office since the primary in July, when Republican incumbent Stephen Richer lost to Heap. Stringham has said he plans to carry the torch from Richer, while Heap has criticized how the office has been run under the incumbent.

Heap has refused to say whether the 2020 and 2022 elections were stolen, but has campaigned frequently with prominent candidates who have denied election losses like former President Donald Trump, U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake and U.S House candidate Abe Hamadeh. 

Stringham used Richer’s loss to propel his campaign, telling the Arizona Capitol Times in August that he entered the race as a “firewall” against candidates like Heap. He has been able to garner bipartisan support and endorsements from local Republicans who had originally pledged their support to Richer. 

Heap is currently a state lawmaker and an attorney, though reporting from both the Arizona Capitol Times and KJZZ found controversies in his legal career. He once worked as a special deputy county attorney under former Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas, who was later disbarred. Heap later appeared to be fired from the Maricopa County public defender’s office. 

Stringham is also an attorney and a Navy veteran. He is a newcomer to Arizona politics and has never held public office. 

The Maricopa County Recorder’s office has found itself in the national spotlight since 2020 after Richer made himself a staunch defender of the county’s election processes. The office oversees mail-in voting and voter registration and has long been the target of conspiracy theories and election deniers.

Heap has called Maricopa County elections a “laughing stock” and has made pledges to purge voter rolls and remove certain mail-in voting provisions. Stringham has acknowledged that Arizonans may have concerns about elections, but said he does not have plans to make significant changes to how they are run in the county. 

Whoever wins will play a major role in elections in Arizona’s largest county for the next four years.