HERE WE GO AGAIN: A Six-Year-Old Traffic Stop Is Back in the Headlines Because Arizona Is Hiring a Secretary of State
Part 1 – SETTING THE STANDARD
A six-year-old Scottsdale traffic stop involving Alex Kolodin who was a passenger in the vehicle, is suddenly back in circulation. There are handcuffs. There is body-camera video. There is a disputed object tossed from a car. There are questions about exactly how the littering matter was ultimately resolved. And because this is an election year, there is plenty of POLITICAL THEATER on display.
Fine!
Arizona voters can look at the video. Kolodin can answer whatever questions voters believe he should answer. Reporters can examine the police record. His opponents can decide how much political mileage they think a six-year-old traffic stop deserves. But eventually Arizona has to ask a considerably more important question:
What Does Any of This Have to Do with Being Secretary of State?
That is not a rhetorical escape hatch for Alex Kolodin. It is the question we should ask about every piece of information offered against either candidate. Does it tell us something meaningful about His honesty?
- His judgment?
- His knowledge of election law?
- His ability to manage a statewide office?
- His willingness to remain within the authority the law gives him?
- His ability to protect voter information, work with Arizona’s counties, administer election procedures and follow court rulings even when he disagrees with them?
Or is it simply noise?
Arizona is not choosing the winner of an opposition-research contest…Arizona Is Hiring a Secretary of State. And there is an important difference between the two men now asking for that job.
Adrian Fontes is not merely applying for it.
HE ALREADY HAS IT!
Fontes has served as Arizona Secretary of State since January 2023. Before that, he served as Maricopa County Recorder. Alex Kolodin comes to the race from a different direction — as an attorney whose work has included constitutional and election law, and as an Arizona legislator involved in election policy.
So, the 2026 contest presents voters with two very different questions:
What has the incumbent done with the job?
Has the challenger demonstrated that he is prepared to do it better?
Those questions deserve more attention than a pair of handcuffs and alleged littering.
BACK TO THE FUTURE…AND RETURN
We have actually been here before…In June, before Arizona voters had even selected the Republican nominee, we asked a more fundamental question:
How should voters evaluate candidates for Arizona Secretary of State?
The answer was not complicated…
Start with the job. Then work backward.
What knowledge, experience and judgment would reasonably prepare someone to perform their duties?
Arizona’s Secretary of State is the state’s Chief Elections Officer and has major responsibilities involving election administration, election results, candidates and ballot measures, public records and other statutory functions. The office also plays an important role in implementing Arizona’s Elections Procedures Manual and stands in the line of succession to the Governor.
From those duties came the qualifications we said voters should examine:
- Election law.
- Election administration.
- Constitutional and statutory knowledge.
- Legislative and public-policy experience.
- Leadership and management.
- Transparency and voter confidence.
- And demonstrated accomplishments relevant to the office.
We later examined Adrian Fontes more closely — first through the recurring dispute over who makes election law and who administers it, and then through his office’s handling of protected voter information. Those earlier articles remain available for readers who want the complete background.
Readers who missed those earlier articles do not need to stop here and do their homework. But the links are there because we are not going to pretend that every election begins with collective amnesia.
- We already established the test.
- We already examined portions of Fontes’s record.
- And Arizona voters have now chosen the man who will challenge him.
SO — BACK TO 2026.
The question is no longer theoretical. It is no longer Kolodin versus another Republican candidate. It is:
ADRIAN FONTES OR ALEX KOLODIN?
And before we begin scoring either man, there is one more qualification that deserves a place on our list. One that cannot be measured simply by counting years in office, lawsuits handled, statutes written or elections administered.
INTEGRITY, JUDGMENT AND ACCOUNTABILITY
Integrity Is Not a Purity Test. It Is a Performance Test.
- A person can have integrity and make a wrong decision.
- A person can win a lawsuit and still exercise poor judgment.
- A person can make a mistake and demonstrate integrity by admitting it, correcting it and telling the public.
The real question is not whether either Adrian Fontes or Alex Kolodin has ever been wrong… Of course they have.
The question is what each man does when the mistake, challenge, or ruling exposes the problem.
- Does he tell the truth?
- Does he stay within his authority?
- Does he accept responsibility?
- Does he correct the problem?
- Does he apply the same standard to himself that he demands of everyone else?
Because knowledge of election law tells us whether someone knows what he can do.
Integrity Tells Us What He Does When He Knows
Nobody Can Easily Stop Him.
Campaigning rewards theater. Courtrooms sometimes require it. Good advocacy needs theater. Good judgment knows when the theater has gone too far. But governing is different. Governing tests whether the performance remains anchored to law, facts, responsibility — and the public trust. And that is where our real job interview begins.
We NOW have the standard. In the next installment, we apply it first to the man who already holds the office.
Adrian Fontes does not have to tell Arizona what he would do as Secretary of State. He has already had nearly four years to show us.
The question is simple:
HOW HAS HE PERFORMED?
PART 2 — The Incumbent Takes the Test
PART 3 — The Challenger Takes the Test
by Linda Brickman
©2026 Linda Brickman All Rights Reserved.
