Maricopa County Attorney Election Results: Gunnigle Concedes

PHOENIX — Republican Allister Adel will win a tight race for Maricopa County Attorney after Democratic challenger Julie Gunnigle conceded.

Gunnigle made the statement on Twitter Monday afternoon.

"Although the results are not what we wanted in the County Attorney race, I have no regrets about the bold campaign we ran," she said. "I would like to thank the community organizations, our hundreds of volunteers, my amazing staff, and the sacrifices my family made to support this race."

Adel remains hospitalized after undergoing emergency surgery on Election Night. Her office said in a statement at the time that she had bleeding in her brain after falling at home and hitting her head. She is in serious but stable condition.

“Her family is grateful for the outpouring of support and asks for continued prayers for Allister,” Liewer said, according to the Arizona Republic.

She will be the county's first female attorney.

As of Monday at 3 p.m., Adel had earned 953,445 votes to Gunnigle's 918,454, according to the Maricopa County Recorder's Office.

Adel was appointed to the interim role by the Board of Supervisors in October 2019 after former county attorney Bill Montgomery was named to the Arizona Supreme Court by Gov. Doug Ducey. Prior to that, she spent seven years working as the Deputy County Attorney.

After a summer rocked by protests against police brutality and calls for more transparency in law enforcement, the county attorney's race was one to watch.

Adel has said that she has made changes to the office since taking charge and will work to keep law enforcement accountable. She has called for all Arizona officers to wear body cameras, has placed a dashboard of charging data on the county attorney's website and advocated for sentencing reforms.

She declined to charge the Arizona Department of Public Safety officer involved in the death of Dion Johnson, an unarmed Black man, in September. She said during an Oct. 16 debate with Gunnigle that the decision "wasn't taken lightly."

But Gunnigle has accused her of making a "political" decision, as Adel was recently endorsed by the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association.

"It isn't a political move to speak truth to power," Gunnigle said.

Democratic challenger Julie Gunnigle ran with criminal justice reform in mind.

Her statement Monday indicated that her work was far from over, specifically calling out the attorney's office for its handling of police use-of-force cases and mass incarceration.

"This office needs change, and while we could not close the gap, the conversation with the voters of Maricopa County will continue," she tweeted. "49 percent of Maricopa County voters supported our bold vision of reform."