Two challengers to sitting county attorney Andrew Thomas took the stage Tuesday night to debate who is best suited to take on the incumbent in November's general election.
About 100 people gathered in Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe on July 8 for an open forum with Democratic county attorney candidates Gerald Richard and Tim Nelson.
After winning a coin toss, Richard started the session, refusing the microphone and using only his booming voice to explain to the crowd why he thinks he is best qualified for the position.
In Arizona, county attorneys act as the chief legal advisor for the area they represent.
The county attorney also prosecutes criminals who commit felonies in the county and criminals who commit misdemeanors in unincorporated areas of the county.
Richard pointed to his 22 years of experience in law enforcement and 15 year managing a budget of over $65 million as director of the Administrative Support Division of the Phoenix Police Department as credentials enough for the job.
"In the last 22 years, I've done everything, everything that the [office requires]," Richard said.
His opponent, Nelson, pledged to deal with crime issues on ASU's campuses, and said there needs to be more cohesion between the County Attorney's office and ASU police officials.
"You've got to have students who feel safe," he said. "If law enforcement isn't creating that safe feeling than it's going to compromise the mission of the University."
An attorney for 20 years, Nelson has spent the past five years as chief counsel of Gov. Janet Napolitano, working with the governor's office in drafting executive orders and giving the governor legal advice.
Richard agreed that improving safety at the University is one of his top priorities. The former Sun Devil received his undergraduate business degree and a law degree from ASU.
"I know ASU," Richard said. "That's home for me."
Date rape, drugs and campus safety are issues that need to be dealt with, he said.
"I want you to feel safe walking from the Memorial Union to the dorms," he said.
Richard said he would use county money to fund programs like a date rape prevention program and put away criminals on campus.
"If you do something like that, you belong to me," he said.
Richard said if he is elected, serving as county attorney will be his last public position. After that, he wants to teach at ASU or NAU and spend time working at his church.
"This is not a political stepping stone," he said. "For me, this is it. I want to finish where I started."
Nelson said that if he is elected, he will want to stay in the position "as long as I think this is the most important job in Maricopa County."
Nelson has been an attorney for 20 years, working in both the private and public sectors.
"I've been doing this for a long time, working on big cases with a lot of money at stake," Nelson said.
He said he has more law experience than Richard and Libertarian candidate Michael Kielsky combined, and said he is the only candidate who can beat incumbent Republican County Attorney Thomas in the Nov. 4 general election.
The winner of the Democratic primary will face Thomas and Kielsky in the November election.
"Right now, Andrew Thomas's biggest polling number is 'don't know, don't care,' " Nelson said.
Instead, voters need to be informed on who the best candidate is, he said.
Biology sophomore Flora Sarder said she knew little about the race for county attorney before the panel at Changing Hands.
"It really opened my eyes up to the issues," she said.
Sarder said she'd never really been exposed to local politics but she's now eager to find out more about the race and the candidates.
Film sophomore Trent Petroff said he's also been out of the loop of local politics.
"It helped me get pumped up to learn more about everything that's happening within our state," he said.
Petroff said both candidates were good speakers and well qualified for the job, though he was more impressed with Nelson's experience.
Elementary education student Jonathan Powell graduated in May, and met Richard when he was in eighth grade and supports the candidate for county attorney.
Powell said Richard is more charismatic and his experience working with local law enforcement puts him at an advantage over Nelson.
"That way you'd know all the people you'd be working with," he said.
Undeclared sophomore Leslie Kittredge works as a field organizer for the Nelson campaign.
Like many students, she said she was well informed on the upcoming presidential election, but didn't know about any of the candidates for the county attorney race before joining the Nelson campaign.
"I'm very impressed with everything he brings, all of his experience," she said. "[But] I definitely think Gerald [Richard] is well qualified too."
Reach the reporter at: allison.denny@asu.edu.
