Both AG primaries still up in the air

PHOENIX -- The Republican and Democratic primaries in the Arizona attorney general's race may not be settled until the weekend, according to elections officials.

After Tuesday's primary, both races were too close to call.

With another day of ballot-counting ahead Thursday,state schools chief Tom Horne had a 430-vote lead over former Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas in the bitter GOP race.

On the Democrat side, former state financial regulator Felecia Rotellini held a 1,280-vote lead over state Rep David Lujan.

The Secretary of State's office said Thursday that about 125,000 early and provisional ballots remain to be counted statewide. About 94,000 are in Maricopa County.

Maricopa County Recorder Helen Purcell said she hoped to have all votes counted by Saturday night, but she cannot guarantee it.

Despite a nasty campaign, Thomas issued a statement Wednesday morning saying that, if he should lose the race, he would support Horne in the general election.

``If Tom prevails I don't want there to be any doubt that I will support him against the Democrat," Andrew said. "Let's see where the vote counting takes us knowing that in the end the Republican Party will offer a nominee that is vastly better than a Democrat counterpart...''

Horne said, "This thing is not over."

Maricopa County Elections Director Karen Osborne said the GOP battle for attorney general was one of the closest races she has seen in years and the final tally might not be done until the weekend.

"We have tens of thousands of ballots left to count that were early, so we'll be working on that today, checking the signatures on each and every one of them and working on our provisionals and going through the process that we go through," said Osborne.

As the close vote count progressed Tuesday night, Horne said he believe he was hurt by the low voter turnout of about 20 percent and Thomas touted his support of SB1070, Arizona's controversial immigration law.

3-TV talked to both candidates:

Thomas was Maricopa County's top prosecutor for more than five years before resigning this spring to run for attorney general. His tenure was marked by his efforts to confront illegal immigration, prosecute metro Phoenix's Baseline Killer and Serial Shooter cases and pursue criminal cases against county officials.

Horne, who is in his second term as the state's school chief, advocated for more accountability in the schools and pushed for a bill targeting a school district's ethnic studies program. He helped Republican legislative leaders in a legal and political dispute over Arizona's school programs for students learning English.

Thomas criticized Horne for losing his license to sell securities while working his way through law school in the early 1970s and for not disclosing his investment firm's bankruptcy on corporate filings in recent years.

Horne said Thomas wasted millions of taxpayer dollars mounting baseless prosecutions against his political enemies that were later dismissed.

Rotellini worked as a white-collar prosecutor for the attorney general's office and later as Arizona's superintendent of financial institutions from 2006-2009.

She pushed mandatory licensing for mortgage officers and won a settlement from a money transfer service on allegations that some of the company's outlets failed to comply with reporting laws intended to help combat money laundering and illegal immigration.

Lujan, who earlier in his career worked on education funding issues for the attorney general's office, is the top Democrat in the state House. He advocates for abused children in his current job as a lawyer for a group that protects kids.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)