Attempt to recall election denier fails in Arizona county as petition falls short

An effort by residents of an Arizona border county beset with election denialism to recall a county supervisor who has championed false election claims has failed, its organizers announced.

Related: Arizona county hires election director who spread false claims about 2020

The Committee to Recall Tom Crosby, a Republican in Cochise county, said it did not get enough signatures in time on a petition to trigger a recall election. The group needed nearly 4,900 signatures but gathered about 4,300, coming close to success before the 3 May deadline to submit the petition.

Crosby ignited the recall effort after he repeatedly cast doubt on local election results. He pushed for a hand count of ballots, deemed illegal by the courts, and refused to certify the county’s election results, even after a judge ruled to compel the supervisors to do so.

Recall organizers previously told the Guardian that Crosby’s willingness to defy legal counsel on these issues and rack up legal bills paid for by county taxpayers in his quest made them seek accountability.

One local Republican, Gretchen Lamberth, said that, even if the group ultimately didn’t get enough signatures, the recall effort would let Crosby know that “these few people you keep listening to are not the way the rest of the county feels.”

The recall committee said almost 60% of the signatures gathered were from Republicans, independents or other minor party voters, making clear that Crosby had not just angered local Democrats.

But the group ran into challenges like a lack of awareness of the issues or reluctance to get involved, they said. Some signature-gatherers also tangled recently with the Cochise county recorder, David Stevens, over whether they could gather signatures at certain sites.

“The team of over 60 volunteers working on this did an amazing job, and we are proud of what we accomplished together,” the committee chair, Eric Suchodolski, said in a statement. “This will not be the end – we will just continue in a different way, and it will take a bit longer. The community has something to build on.”