Michele Reagan prefers to focus on her work on campaign-finance transparency – certainly the most colorful feather in her political cap as secretary of state, but one her most ardent critics are quick to assail
Written by Jimmy Magahern | Phoenix Magazine
Widely rebuked for two election fumbles, Arizona Secretary of State Michele Reagan says she’s rehabilitated and ready for re-election – that is, if she doesn’t become governor first.
Michele Reagan doesn’t understand why she gets so much bad press.
“Have you Googled me?” she asks over sandwiches at the Paradise Bakery at Biltmore Fashion Park, with genuine curiosity. “Isn’t there anything positive?”
On page one, at least, not really. Most people searching for information on Arizona’s current secretary of state first come across her biggest blunders. No. 1 was her failure as the state’s chief elections officer to foresee the “election debacle” of Arizona’s 2016 presidential primary, when the number of polling places in Maricopa County was reduced from 200 for the 2012 primary to 60, resulting in six-hour voting lines that drew national attention. On that mishap, Reagan still passes the buck to county recorder Helen Purcell, whose seven terms in office were brought to an inauspicious end by the screw-up.
