A top Maricopa County election official has been moved to an undisclosed location over safety concerns following the midterm elections. Maricopa County Supervisor Bill Gates confirmed on Sunday that he was transferred and provided a security detail after workers at the Arizona county elections office faced months of escalating death threats that made it increasingly difficult to do their job. Gates, a Republican, has faced particular backlash as a vocal critic of false election claims spurred by Trump’s election denialism in 2020. Gates’ transfer comes on the heels of a particularly volatile gubernatorial race in the swing state, in which Trump-backed MAGA candidate Kari Lake lost to Democratic challenger Katie Hobbs. So far, Lake has refused to concede the race. On Monday, hours before she was projected to lose, an attorney for Lake’s campaign allegedly called Maricopa County to warn the office of “a lot of irate people out there” that their campaign “can’t control,” according to The Washington Post. And just last week, a dozen people were seen hurling insults at Gates during a meeting of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors—reportedly at the behest of Lake, according to Fox10.
