An Arizona Republican election official targeted by conservative conspiracy theorists during the 2020 and 2022 election cycles announced he will not be running for a new term.
Thursday’s announcement from Maricopa County Board of Supervisors Chairman Bill Gates adds to previous stories of election officials leaving their jobs after facing threats over baseless right-wing claims of stolen elections.
A source close to Gates told CNN that his decision not to seek re-election doesn’t mark the end of Gates’ political career and wasn’t precipitated by the threats against him. Still, right-wing activists will likely view his decision as a signal that their violent, conspiratorial rhetoric can prompt officials’ departures.
In May, Gates told The Washington Post he struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the hateful attacks and threats he and his family endured in the aftermath of the 2020 election and beyond.
Multiple investigations into the 2020 and 2022 election cycles found no evidence of widespread voter fraud in Maricopa County — which includes Phoenix and is Arizona’s most populous county — or anywhere else in the United States.
Here, I can’t help but see similarities between Gates and other election workers nationwide who’ve spoken out about the pressures they experienced as targets of right-wing conspiracy theories. People like former Fulton County, Georgia, election workers Ruby Freeman and daughter Shaye Moss. Both women testified before the House Jan. 6 committee last year about the racist invective and death threats they faced after Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani and others falsely accused them of engaging in election fraud.
“There is nowhere I feel safe,” Freeman said, adding:
Do you know how it feels to have the president of the United States target you? The president of the United States is supposed to represent every American. Not to target one. He targeted me. A proud American citizen who stood up to help Fulton County run an…
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