The following is the opinion and analysis of the writer:
In my early 20s, I traveled to my local Marine recruiting station to make my enlistment official. Along with a dozen other recruits, I raised my hand and swore an oath to “defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” It is not an oath I took lightly and I was proud to make that commitment to my country, and accept the mortal obligations that came with it.
Over the next four years, I served with young idealistic men and women who conducted themselves with integrity. I made lifelong friendships and drew inspiration from their stories.
It was in the Corps that I also fell in love with public service, and I began a career to protect people against dangerous individuals who would do them harm.
That short drive to the recruitment office would take me on a journey to work as a prosecutor in Denver, Maricopa County, and later in the Arizona Attorney General’s Office. It would also take me on to serve as Maricopa County’s top election official, and on a campaign to serve as Arizona’s next secretary of state.
Now, as I travel around Arizona, meeting with people in diners and coffee shops, I am struck by how often I hear the same thing — we are dangerously close to losing our democracy.
Since the Jan. 6 insurrection, Donald Trump, Steve Bannon, and the rest of the MAGA crowd have been executing a plan. They wish to control election outcomes by controlling the election offices.
They’ve recruited and assembled a group of candidates who are willing to ignore legitimate election results if they don’t like the outcome. They want to hand select the winners, voters be damned.
My opponent in the secretary of state race is one such candidate. He’s traveled the country spreading conspiracy theories about the 2020 election, and has already promised to hand the 2024 election to Republicans — falsifying the results if necessary.
He is a liar, potentially violent, and represents an existential threat to American democracy.
He has a long history of associating with violent separatists and extremists. He claimed to be a member of the Oath Keepers, one of the largest far-right anti-government paramilitary organizations.
He helped organize the movement that led to the January 6th insurrection, and marched on the Capitol himself.
He defended the white supremacists who held a violent rally in Charlottesville, and worked as coordinator for an organization that supported the armed occupation of a wildlife refuge in Oregon.
He believes in baseless conspiracy theories like the one that says elected officials are involved in a secret pedophile network.
He is working with a vigilante group of sheriffs from around the country to intimidate citizens at polling stations under the guise of preserving election integrity.
It was also recently reported that he keeps a “Treason Watch List” and encouraged his social media followers to stockpile ammunition.
How can we give someone like this the power to oversee our elections?
I take the oath I first made 30 years ago seriously. Voting is the cornerstone of democracy. The office of Arizona Secretary of State might not come with a uniform, but it too is responsible for protecting our freedom.
Let’s join in common cause, defeat this danger and defend our elections.
The fate of our democracy hangs in the balance.
Correction: This guest opinion was corrected to reflect the accurate age Fontes enlisted in the Marines. The Star ran the guest opinion as it was submitted.
