Arizona Attorney General Debate: Moderator’s Ethics Questioned, Softball Questions for Democrat 

In the Arizona attorney general debate between Republican candidate Abe Hamadeh and Democrat Kris Mayes on Wednesday night, one of the moderator’s ethics was questioned, and both moderators saved all the hard-hitting questions for Hamadeh, leaving only softball questions for Mayes.

One of the debate’s two moderators, Stacey Barchenger of the Arizona Republic, failed to disclose that she works for the same news outlet that Democrat candidate Kris Mayes spent many years as a journalist.

In her opening statement, Mayes also made no mention of her lengthy career with the Arizona Republic, instead choosing to highlight her service on the Arizona Corporation Commission.

Later in the debate, Hamadeh pressed Barchenger for failing to disclose Mayes’ ties to the Arizona Republic.

“I want to make sure that you’ve done the viewers a disservice by not doing your journalist ethical duty by disclosing the fact that my opponent used to be a reporter at your paper,” Hamadeh told Barchenger. “And she was accused of insider trading when she was at the Arizona Republic, and you have not disclosed that.”

“So now it seems like I came to debate my opponent, I didn’t know it’d be debating all three of you,” Hamadeh added.

When the moderators asked the two to explain their qualifications to hold office, Hamadeh, a former Maricopa County prosecutor and U.S. Army intelligence officer, harped on Mayes’ lack of courtroom experience.

Although Mayes claimed her tenure as a judge on the Arizona Corporation Commission gave her experience with administrative law, Hamadeh noted that the position is an elected office that does not require a commissioner to have a law degree.

“I’ve been a prosecutor. I’ve actually had to deal with victims, I’ve put criminals away. But my opponent, she’s only been a professor of environmentalism and a former journalist,” Hamadeh said. “So I don’t think she has the legal experience that she’s trying to claim.”

Both moderators primarily focused their attention on Hamadeh throughout the debate, asking him at least seven questions about his views while paying little attention to Mayes’ views.

An overwhelming majority of the 27-minute debate focused on Hamadeh’s views on abortion and the 2020 presidential election.

On abortion, Hamadeh noted that the attorney general’s role is to enforce state laws rather than acting as a “super legislator.”

“I think we have to understand the role of the Attorney General. As Attorney General, I enforce the laws. So we have to understand that the legislature passed this law back in March, a 15-week restriction,” Hamadeh said.

“I don’t want to make the law — that’s the job of the legislature. I enforce the law, and I think that’s an important distinction between my opponent and myself,” he continued. “I mean, she has said on record that she would not have enforced the 1977 law or 1901 law, or even the 15-week law, and I think it’s dangerous. I think people are electing us to actually uphold the law and not to be a super legislator.”

Hamadeh said Mayes would be “an activist general,” rather than an attorney general, using the office to advocate for her personal beliefs.

On the 2020 election, Mayes accused Hamadeh of spewing rhetoric that led to Arizona election officials being reportedly intimidated, harassed, and threatened.

However, Hamadeh insisted that as Arizona Attorney General, he would prosecute those who commit crimes, pointing to Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich’s recent arrest of former San Luis, Arizona, mayor Guillermina Fuentes, who pleaded guilty to illegally harvesting ballots.

The moderators continued their inquiry into Hamadeh, accusing him of helping his mother cast a ballot when he was a teenager, which led to a brief spat between Hamadeh and Barchenger.

“So now, it seems like I came to debate my opponent, I didn’t know it’d be debating all three of you,” Hamadeh said. “But I mean, I think it’s ridiculous to suggest that what I do at 15 is somehow going to affect me when I’m Attorney General.”

“I was not even 15 when Kris Mayes worked at the Arizona Republic,” Barchenger replied.

“Exactly why I’m debating with you again, Stacey. The Arizona Republic should disclose the fact that my opponent was a reporter at the Republic,” Hamadeh said. “She was even kicked off the campaign bus for John McCain’s run for president because of how dishonest John McCain thought she was as a journalist.”

Mayes noted that she used to be a Republican for three decades and highlighted how one of her proudest moments came when she was the second highest vote-getting candidate next to one of her “heroes,” former Sen. John McCain (R-AZ).

Mayes said:

I spent 30 years as a Republican, just one year shy of the amount of time you’ve been alive on this earth. And John McCain supported me. And one of the things I’m proudest of is the fact that when John McCain — Sen. McCain, one of my heroes — was on the ballot, I was the second highest vote-getter, second only to him when we were running for statewide office.

After spending more than 17 minutes of the debate on Hamadeh’s positions on abortion and the 2020 election, the moderators briefly asked the candidates to address the ongoing fentanyl crisis.

Hamadeh pledged on day one in office to work with the Arizona legislature and governor to declare the Mexican cartels as terrorist organizations.

“So with that designation of the cartels as terrorists, there’ll be enhanced sentencing on them. So that’s exactly one of the issues I’m going to tackle at the border,” Hamadeh said. “But you know, my opponent, her top three issues she said are environmental justice, reproductive rights, and voting access. She said she has not been to the border.”

Jordan Dixon-Hamilton is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at jdixonhamilton@breitbart.com or follow him on Twitter.