Adel Vs. Gunnigle: Maricopa County Attorney Election Results

PHOENIX — Maricopa County Attorney Allister Adel has now taken the lead against Democratic challenger Julie Gunnigle in a narrow race.

One Election Night surprise no one expected: Adel underwent emergency surgery Tuesday night.

Jennifer Liewer, spokesperson for the county attorney, said Adel had bleeding in her brain after falling at home and hitting her head.

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

Adel, a Republican, 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.

But after a summer rocked by protests against police brutality and calls for more transparency in law enforcement, the county attorney's race is one to watch. Democratic challenger Julie Gunnigle is running with criminal justice reform in mind. Gunnigle grew up in Arizona and has previous prosecutorial experience in Illinois and Indiana.

No matter the outcome, Maricopa County will elect its first female county attorney.

These are the results as of 8 a.m. Monday:

Allister Adel: 953,445

Julie Gunnigle: 918,454

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Those numbers are according to the Maricopa County Recorder's Office.

Adel and Gunnigle participated in an often contentious debate Oct. 16, hosted by the Arizona Republic, Arizona PBS and KJZZ.

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 the debate 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.

Ballot counting had already started but the first round of results weren't released until 8 p.m., one hour after the polls close, per Arizona law.

Gunnigle tweeted at around 10:30 p.m. that she had been informed that Adel was admitted to the hospital with a medical emergency. It is not yet clear what that is.

"My thoughts are with Allister and her family," she said. "We should give them privacy in this moment and we wish for a full recovery."

Election officials have warned voters that due to an influx of early voting and a rule on the books that gives all voters five business days to fix issues with their ballot signatures, the final election tally won't be available until Nov. 10. If they're close, Arizona races might not be called on Election Night.

The race has not yet been called and votes are still being counted throughout the county.