| NEWS | Rachel Mitchell grills Christine Blasey Ford during Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings. Lead Counsel BY KATYA SCHWENK I n 2018, career prosecutor Rachel Mitchell briefly thrust the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office into the national spotlight. At that time, Mitchell was the chief of the county’s sex crimes division. She was tasked by Senate Republicans to question U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh during his confirmation hear- ings, as well as Christine Blasey Ford, who had accused him of assaulting her decades earlier. The high-stakes case drew some national criticism that Mitchell, a regis- tered Republican, was using her position in a partisan fashion. Now, Mitchell is once again in the spot- light. Last week, she launched her campaign to become Maricopa County Attorney, armed with insider status, a long and distin- guished career, and the endorsement of former county attorney Rick Romley. Mitchell is joining a fast-paced race for the county attorney’s seat. The powerful position oversees tens of thousands of criminal prosecutions in the county each year. Mitchell’s bid for the top job comes just weeks after she and four other top county prosecutors signed a letter calling for the resignation of their boss. Mitchell continued her criticism in announcing her bid on Twitter. “As the next county attorney, I will not be learning the job while doing the job,” she wrote. The race began abruptly two days earlier, when County Attorney Allister Adel, who had been subject to months of mounting scrutiny over her handling of the office, announced her resignation. It was an about-face from her insistence for weeks that she had no plans to step down. In the hours that followed, many on the YouTube Rachel Mitchell, famed Kavanaugh interrogator, enters Maricopa County Attorney’s race. left quickly rallied behind Adel’s chal- lenger in the 2020 election: Julie Gunnigle, an attorney and former prosecutor. Back in 2020, Gunnigle lost to Adel by just two percentage points. Since, she has continued to be a vocal critic of Adel and MCAO and is now positioning herself as the progressive, reform-minded candidate. Within just 24 hours of Adel’s resignation, Gunnigle had garnered enough signatures — over 4,000 — to secure her a spot on the August primary ballot. She was thrilled by the momentum, she told Phoenix New Times: “I don’t even have the words to describe what this run looks like. The difference between this time and last time has been absolutely palpable.” Days later, Mitchell is now emerging as a strong conservative opponent. She’s a Republican who donated to Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich’s campaigns in 2013 and 2018, according to state campaign finance records. But it’s not Mitchell’s first bid for the office, either. Though she did not challenge Adel in the 2020 race, she did apply for the job back in 2019, vying to fill Bill Montgomery’s seat after he was appointed to the Arizona Supreme Court. Mitchell did not immediately respond to New Times’ interview requests, but did lay out her credentials in her Twitter announcement. “For the past 30 years I’ve dedicated my career to protecting families by prose- cuting crimes against children, ensuring the integrity of our legal system, and leading teams of prosecutors holding dangerous criminals accountable,” Mitchell tweeted. In 2018, during the Kavanaugh confir- mation hearings, Mitchell received blow- back from both sides of the political aisle. Critics at home and on the left said >> p 19 17 phoenixnewtimes.com | CONTENTS | FEEDBACK | OPINION | NEWS | FEATURE | NIGHT+DAY | CULTURE | FILM | CAFE | MUSIC | PHOENIX NEW TIMES MARCH 31ST– APRIL 6TH, 2022
