Conspiracy theory-fueled harassment prompts Arizona GOP election official to resign

An Arizona Republican elections official who has been the target of a vitriolic, conspiracy theory-fueled harassment campaign on Thursday announced that he will step down at the end of his term.

Bill Gates said in a statement that said he will not seek reelection in 2024 and plans to “pursue other interests and opportunities.”

Gates in a statement said it was an honor serving his home state on the Phoenix City Council and the Maricopa Board of Supervisors for 13 years.

“At the city of Phoenix, I cut through the bureaucracy and helped shape a more efficient and responsive government operation,” Gates said.

“At Maricopa County, I kept government lean, taxes low, supported our most vulnerable residents, and told the truth about our elections in the face of false information.”

The Maricopa County Supervisor and his family members have experienced threats over his pushback against such false information.

The Washington Post reports that he faced death threats in the aftermath of the 2020 election and that he has since suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

He has also been targeted by failed Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, who claimed in a lawsuit against the county alleged that “hundreds of thousands of illegal ballots infected the election in Maricopa County.”

Lake’s campaign on Thursday assailed Gates after he announced that he was stepping down.

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“Mr. Gate's malicious incompetence has been an albatross on Maricopa County,” Kari Lake War Room tweeted.

“He has done irreparable damage to election Integrity & the people of Arizona. We encourage Mr. Gates to never involve himself in representative politics again.

“He has forfeited that right.”