Arizona’s top prosecutor announced Wednesday that an Arizona grand jury has indicted Cochise County Supervisors Peggy Judd, 61, and Tom Crosby, 64, both local Republican officials, for allegedly interfering with the midterm elections from last year by attempting to delay the election results’ certification.
The Maricopa County Superior Court indictment charges Judd and Crosby with felony counts of conspiracy and interference with an election officer, alleging that they conspired together to delay the statewide canvass of the November 2022 election.
“The repeated attempts to undermine our democracy are unacceptable,” Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, a Democrat, stated, emphasizing that her office will continue to enforce Arizona’s elections laws and support election officials in carrying out their duties responsibly.
Dennis Wilenchik, Crosby’s Phoenix lawyer, dismissed the indictment as a product of political partisanship, while Judd and her attorney did not respond to The Arizona Republic’s request for a comment.
The charges against the supervisors are class 5 felonies, and if convicted, they could face up to 2 1/2 years in prison and a $150,000 fine.
Crosby and Judd had initially voted to delay the certification but faced legal advice against their actions. Cochise County eventually certified election results in December 2022 after a judge ruled that their refusal was illegal.
The accusations against the county supervisors drew national attention to Arizona, and the Arizona Attorney General’s Office is also investigating a slate of state Republicans who claimed to be valid electors for Donald Trump following the 2020 election.
