PHOENIX â Republican Mark Brnovich, who served eight years as Arizona's attorney general ending in 2022 and then failed to win his party's nomination to run for U.S. Senate, has died, his family announced Tuesday.
He was 59.
No cause of death was announced by his family, but The Arizona Republic cited former Brnovich spokesperson Katie Connor as saying he died in his sleep Monday of an apparent heart attack.
"Best known as Arizona's 26th attorney general, a state and federal prosecutor, and champion of justice, he will forever be remembered and cherished by us as a beloved husband, father, son and brother,'' said a statement signed by "The Brnovich Family,'' which includes his wife, U.S. District Judge Susan Brnovich, and two daughters.
"We are heartbroken with this loss and are deeply moved by the outpouring of love and support from so many wonderful people across the state and country,'' the statement continued.
Brnovich was nominated this past summer by President Donald Trump to be ambassador to Serbia but the White House later pulled the nomination.Â
Brnovich first ran for public office in 2014 as the incumbent attorney general, Republican Tom Horne, was embroiled in a series of scandals revolving around accusations he violated campaign finance laws in part by using his state office staff to do extensive campaign work.
Brnovich had been director of the Arizona Gaming Department for about four years when he resigned to take on Horne in 2013, campaigning on returning the office to a scandal-free status after Horne's legal troubles dogged him.
He was an unusual candidate, described by those who covered him as both serious and joyous. He cracked jokes with the media, often at his own expense.
And voters embraced him as he handily defeated a wounded Horne in the August 2014 GOP primary and then went on to defeat Democrat Felicia Rotellini in the November general election. He won re-election in 2018 and served as Arizona attorney general for eight years in all.
Then-Attorney General Mark Brnovich in 2020.
Term limits barred him from seeking a third term.
Former Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican who served at the same time as Brnovich, expressed sadness at his passing and said he and his wife, Angela, were praying for the entire Brnovich family.
"It was an honor to campaign with and serve alongside Mark Brnovich,'' Ducey said on X, the social media platform. "His passion for the law, justice, and victims were hallmarks of his career in public service.
"For those of us blessed to call him a friend, his humor, positivity, and happy warrior spirit were infectious,'' Ducey said. "May he rest in peace.''
Brnovich spent his first years as attorney general battling the Obama administration in court, sometimes successfully. After Trump won election in 2016, he sometimes split with the mercurial president.
When Trump lost the 2020 election in Arizona and nationally and called his loss the result of election fraud, Brnovich moved to investigate. But he came up with no evidence that the election was either rigged or the results uncertain. Trump claimed that Brnovich was unable or unwilling to thoroughly investigate his election fraud claims.
In a 2022 report, Brnovich recommended some changes in election law. But no indictments followed and no evidence of fraud was found beyond a handful of people who had voted someone else's ballot.
He later debunked findings in an "audit'' of the 2020 presidential race in Arizona ordered by then-Senate President Karen Fann, who had hired a firm known as Cyber Ninjas to review the returns. They alleged some ballots were cast by people who had died.
"Our agents investigated all individuals that Cyber Ninjas reported as dead,'' Brnovich said at the time. "Many were very surprised to learn they were allegedly deceased.''
When he ran for U.S. Senate in 2022, Trump remembered and endorsed his primary opponent, Blake Masters, who ended up losing to current Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly.
Trump eventually forgave Brnovich, nominating him as ambassador to Serbia last year. But that nomination was sidetracked and eventually withdrawn.
Brnovich, whose parents emigrated from Serbia in the former Yugoslavia, called the torpedoing of his potential ambassadorship the work of the "deep state'' bureaucracy.
Born in Detroit in 1966, he served as a congressional intern in then-Rep. John McCain's office in 1984 before earning his undergraduate degree in 1988 from Arizona State University and a law degree from the University of San Diego School of Law three years later.
He worked as a prosecutor in the Maricopa County Attorney's Office and then moved to the Attorney General's Office, then led the Goldwater Institute's Center for Constitutional Government from 2003-2005, then worked in government relations for a private prison contractor before working from 2007-2009 for the U.S. attorney in Phoenix. Republican Gov. Jan Brewer appointed him to lead the Gaming Department.
Since leaving elected office, Brnovich worked as a partner at a national law firm.
Services are pending.
Among those sending statements of sympathy was Horne, the AG candidate he had defeated, who is now the state's Republican superintendent of public instruction.
Horne called Brnovich "an outstanding, dedicated public servant and a devoted family man," who will be missed.
"At one time we were political opponents, but we eventually became friends, for which I am grateful,'' Horne said in a statement. Â
