Alister Adel dead. Wow.

From Peter Valencia at Arizona's Family -

Former Maricopa County Attorney Allister Adel dies from ‘health complications,’ family says

Former Maricopa County Attorney Allister Adel died Saturday morning from “health complications,” according to a family spokesperson. She was 45.

“This May we would have celebrated 20 years of marriage. My family and I are utterly heartbroken by this unimaginable loss. We are so very proud to call Allister wife and mom,” said her husband, David DeNitto. “We are asking that the press and the public honor her, her legacy, and our family by respecting our privacy at this difficult time,” he concluded. Funeral arrangements have not yet been publicly announced. Adel is survived by her husband and two children. Arizona’s Family is working on learning more information.

My deepest condolences go out to both her family and friends.  This sucks, and nothing that I, or any other observer of AZ's political scene, will change that, or their pain.

Committee update - County edition

I wasn't going to do one of these posts, as this isn't an election year for major county offices.  However, with the resignation of county attorney Allister Adel, two major offices will be on the ballot this year - County Attorney and District 2 County Supervisor.

The one Democrat in the group, Julie Gunnigle, is an attorney and was a candidate for Maricopa County Attorney in 2020.  I went to sign her petition online, but it was closed as she as already gained enough signatures to get on the ballot.

Pic courtesy her website.

Foster is an attorney and an insider.  Adel may have been Bill Montgomery's choice for the office; Foster may be Doug Ducey's.  Not exactly a positive character reference.  Plus her campaign committee paperwork is also filled with insiders.

Twist is characterized as a "GOP power broker" by the AZ Mirror; I would characterize him as a "fixer".  Ragan is a former aide to former US Senator Jon Kyl,  someone with strong ties to Kirk Adams, former chief of staff to Doug Ducey, and the current treasurer for gubernatorial candidate Karrin Taylor Robson, another insider.

Republican Godbehere is a career prosecutor, with MCAO and now, the City of Goodyear.

ABC15 (Phoenix) has an article about the race that lists three additional candidates, but as of this writing, only the above-named three candidates have committees listed on the county's website.

Caveat: committees are about raising and expending funds. Sigs can still be collected without the formation of a committee.

Candidates just can't spend money while doing so.

As Supervisorial District 2 is not my district, I'll skip over that race for now.

Adel resigns

From Jeremy Duda at the AZ Mirror -

Allister Adel resigns as Maricopa County attorney as scrutiny intensifies

Embattled Maricopa County Attorney Allister Adel, who has been under increasing scrutiny due to a battle with alcohol addiction and high-profile snafus within her agency, will resign from office.

Adel announced that she’ll step down at the end of the week, on March 25. In a press statement on Monday, Adel didn’t address the controversies swirling around her tenure, using her announcement to thank supporters and employees of the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office. 

As of this writing, no one has formed a committee for a run at the office but I expect that jockeying for that position will be intense.