2025 Arizona Election Law Refresher

Eric H Spencer Related Seminars and Products

Partner

Snell & Wilmer LLP

ERIC H. SPENCER is a partner at Snell & Wilmer in Phoenix and primarily focuses his practice on election and political law. Eric most recently served as the State Election Director in the Arizona Secretary of State’s office from 2015-2018. Before his original stint at Snell & Wilmer from 2007-2014, Eric began his professional career as an infantry officer with the U.S. Army, where he achieved the rank of Captain following a 12-month tour of duty during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Among other awards and decorations, Eric was awarded the Bronze Star Medal and Combat Infantry Badge after having led nearly 250 combat missions and patrols in southeast Baghdad in 2006. He currently serves as a Field Forces recruiting/admissions officer for the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and as a director for the nonprofit Imprints of Honor. Eric holds a master’s degree in public administration from Harvard University, law degree from Duke University, and bachelor’s degree in political science (magna cum laude) from UCLA. Eric Spencer is a partner at Snell & Wilmer in Phoenix and primarily focuses his practice on election and political law. Eric most recently served as the State Election Director in the Arizona Secretary of State’s office from 2015-2018. Before his original stint at Snell & Wilmer from 2007-2014, Eric began his professional career as an infantry officer with the U.S. Army, where he achieved the rank of Captain following a 12-month tour of duty during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Among other awards and decorations, Eric was awarded the Bronze Star Medal and Combat Infantry Badge after having led nearly 250 combat missions and patrols in southeast Baghdad in 2006. Eric holds a master’s degree in public administration from Harvard University, law degree from Duke University, and bachelor’s degree in political science (magna cum laude) from UCLA.

Sarah Rae Gonski Related Seminars and Products

Sarah Gonski is the owner of Everett Street Group PLLC, where she helps state and local policymakers design and implement public policy solutions to make the election process more voter-friendly, accurate, and efficient. She is also an Adjunct Professor of Law at Arizona State University's College of Law, where she teaches Election Law.
Prior to her policy and teaching work, she spent seven years in private practice working to secure and expand access to the democratic process. In that capacity, she litigated over 100 election law and voting rights cases across the country in both state and federal courts, including the United States Supreme Court. In 2020, she litigated nearly a dozen lawsuits defending President Biden from those seeking to overturn the results of the presidential election. Sarah is a graduate of the University of Maryland-College Park and Harvard Law School.

Adrian Paulino Fontes Related Seminars and Products

Of Counsel

Dessaules Law Group

is an Arizona native born and raised on the border in Nogales. His active duty service in the United States Marine Corps solidified his love of country and made him a strong advocate of the US Constitution. He took this passion back to finish his undergraduate degree with summa cum laude honors at Arizona State University, and then to the University of Denver where he received his Juris Doctorate. After law school, Mr. Fontes worked for the Denver DA's Office prior to returning to Arizona to continue his prosecuting career with the Maricopa County Attorney and then the Arizona Attorney General. With the Arizona AG, he headed the Foreign Prosecution Unit in the Fraud and Public Corruption Section of that office. Mr. Fontes left government service for private practice where he made his way from working in local Justice Courts, through Superior Courts and eventually to several cases before the US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. Adrian Fontes lives in Phoenix with his wife Mona and their three daughters. He is an avid musician, college football fan and supporter of his community. Adrian Fontes is a member of the National Association of Counties Telecommunications and Technology Policy Steering Committee and is working on the requirements to achieve a Certified Elections/Registration Administrator (CERA) designation. CERA is the elections profession's highest designation. Adrian Fontes serves as the 29th Recorder and is the first Latino to serve as a countywide elected official in Maricopa County, Arizona.

James E Barton II Related Seminars and Products

Partner

Barton Mendez Soto PLLC

practices political and government relations law at Barton Mendez Soto PLLC. He has defended many statewide ballot measure campaigns against challenges to their place on the ballot and constitutionality. He has also challenged and defended candidate petition the constitutionality of state laws regulating elections and campaign finance. Jim represented the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission, the Citizens Clean Elections Commission and the Arizona Secretary of State as an Assistant Attorney General in the Arizona Solicitor General's Office. In that capacity, he also litigated election law cases, including Arizona Free Enterprise v. Bennett, for which he served as counsel of record before the United States Supreme Court. After receiving his Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, from the Arizona State University College of Law in 2005, Jim clerked for Arizona Chief Justice Ruth McGregor. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in physics and philosophy at Northwestern University and served as a submarine warfare officer in the United States Navy from 1993 to 1998.

Daniel Abraham Arellano Related Seminars and Products

Partner

Herrera Arellano LLP

DANIEL A. ARELLANO is a partner at Herrera Arellano LLP, where he practices in the areas of complex litigation, appeals, and investigations. His practice focuses on election law, campaign finance, regulatory issues, and matters of public policy. Before forming Herrera Arellano LLP in 2021, Daniel practiced at two leading Phoenix law firms. He began his legal career as a law clerk to the Honorable Scott Bales of the Arizona Supreme Court and the Honorable Mary H. Murguia of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He is a 2014 graduate of the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law, from which graduated order of the coif and where he served as Editor-in-Chief of The Arizona Law Review.

Kara Karlson Related Seminars and Products

Kara Karlson is Senior Litigation Counsel at the Arizona Attorney General’s Office. She represents the Secretary of State in election matters at trial and on appeal. Her practice covers a wide variety of election law disputes, including constitutional and Voting Rights Act litigation in federal and state courts, state-law and federal-law based challenges to election procedures, election challenges, petition challenges for candidates and initiatives, and recount litigation. Additionally, she advises other state agencies and serves as lead litigation counsel for those agencies in high-impact litigation. In addition to her career, Kara volunteers with the Arizona Women Lawyers’ Association, which supports women and their careers in law, and the Developmental Disabilities Advisory Council, which provides advice to the State of Arizona on how to provide the best services for approximately 60,000 Arizonans with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

David Andrew Gaona Related Seminars and Products

ANDY GAONA is a partner at Coppersmith Brockelman PLC, and focuses his practice in the areas of election and political law, public law, commercial litigation, appeals, and public records. He advises candidates, PACs, party organizations, nonprofits, and public bodies on issues of campaign finance, ballot access, and election-related litigation. In addition, Andy works closely with groups that sponsor or oppose ballot measures at both the state and local level from the drafting of ballot language to defending and prosecuting pre- and post-election challenges (and everything in between).

Andy also litigates commercial, civil rights, public law, and public records matters for a diverse group of clients. He has been recognized as a Super Lawyers® “Rising Star” in business litigation since 2014, and by Best Lawyers® in the appellate practice since 2020 and in the commercial litigation practice since 2022. He was named one of Phoenix’s “40 Under 40” by the Phoenix Business Journal in 2022, and has been recognized by the Arizona Capitol Times as Arizona’s top political lawyer twice in the past three years.

When Andy he is not working, he is trying to keep up with his two ridiculously-cute daughters and playing very mediocre golf.

Karen J Hartman-Tellez Related Seminars and Products

Senior Litigation Counsel

Office of Arizona Attorney General

KAREN J. HARTMAN-TELLEZ is Senior Counsel in the Civil Division of the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office. She has practiced law in Arizona for more than twenty years in the areas of civil litigation involving constitutional, education, employment, civil rights, media, and political law issues. For the last fifteen years, a substantial portion of her practice has focused on representation of state and county election officials, litigating matters at all levels of state and federal courts. Earlier in her career, she spent several years in private practice, where her practice focused on media, constitutional, voting rights, and federal Indian law. In 2008, she spearheaded the Arizona Election Protection program, a non-partisan voter assistance program. Karen graduated magna cum laude from the College of Law at Arizona State University. After obtaining her law degree, she completed a judicial clerkship with the Honorable Ruth V. McGregor, Vice Chief Justice of the Arizona Supreme Court.

Alexis Elizabeth Danneman Related Seminars and Products

ALEXIS DANNEMAN is a litigator and partner in the Perkins Coie’s White Collar & Investigations practice. With a focus on appellate and high-stakes trial court issues, she represents companies, government institutions, campaigns, and individuals in their most complex and consequential legal matters. Alexis has been described by Chambers USA as an “exceptional appellate lawyer.” She has advocated for clients before the Arizona Supreme Court, U.S. Supreme Court, various U.S. courts of appeals, as well as state courts of appeals and courts of last resort. Additionally, she has argued multiple appeals at the Arizona Supreme Court and U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, among others. Alexis brings her constitutional and analytical experience to corporate entities and individuals who are targets of government investigations and enforcement proceedings. She has successfully defended clients against investigations and proceedings brought by the Arizona Attorney General’s Office, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the U.K. Serious Fraud Office. Her work on such matters often requires her to conduct confidential internal investigations for corporate clients, ranging from privately held firms to Fortune 500 public companies. Her clients rely on her judgment and deep knowledge investigating high-stakes issues involving the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), other antibribery laws, fraud, and employee misconduct. She has conducted on-the-ground investigations of these and other issues both domestically and abroad. In addition, Alexis has significant election and political law experience. She has litigated voting rights cases across the country, with a particular emphasis on Arizona elections. Her experience also includes post-election litigation, election contests, and related advice. Before joining Perkins Coie, Alexis served as a law clerk to the Hon. Michael D. Hawkins of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Andrew W Gould Related Seminars and Products

Andrew Gould is a partner at Holtzman Vogel and focuses his practice on Appellate, Commercial Litigation and Constitutional Law.

Prior to joining the firm, Andrew was a Justice to the Arizona Supreme Court from 2016 to 2021. After retiring from the bench in 2021, he worked as a Senior Counsel for First Liberty Institute litigating religious liberty cases throughout the United States. He also served as a Judge on Division One of the Arizona Court of Appeals from 2011 to 2016 where he authored over 400 opinions, and served as a Judge of the Superior Court in Yuma County for 11 years.

Andrew began his legal career, practicing in the field of civil litigation at two of the largest Phoenix law firms. After several years of private practice, he became a Deputy County Attorney, prosecuting major criminal cases for Yuma and Maricopa Counties. He served as Chief Civil Deputy for the Yuma County Attorney’s Office from 1999-2001.

Rhonda L Barnes Related Seminars and Products

is general counsel and deputy chief of staff to the Democratic caucus in the state house of representatives. She began working there in the fall of 2011 and currently staffs the house elections committee and the house rules committee, primarily focusing on election legislation and the constitutionality of pending legislation. From 2005 to 2011, Rhonda was a litigation associate at the law firm Perkins Coie, where she worked on numerous election matters, including candidate nomination petition challenges, initiative drafting and litigation, advising political parties and numerous candidates, in addition to general civil litigation involving public records, civil rights and Indian law. Rhonda clerked for Justice Rebecca Berch on the Arizona Supreme Court after graduating from the Arizona State University College of Law in 2004. She obtained her undergraduate degree from the University of Arizona in 1998.

Amy Bell Chan Related Seminars and Products

Amy B. Chan has served as General Counsel for the Secretary’s Office since March 2022. In over two decades as a lawyer, she has served as a legislative staffer, Director of Administrative Actions for Department of Real Estate, General Counsel for Department of Corrections, Administrative Law Judge for the Corporation Commission, and State Election Director under former Secretary of State Ken Bennett. In 2017 she was appointed to a five year term on the Clean Elections Commission by then-Senate Minority Leader Katie Hobbs, where she remains in that role as a holdover. From late 2013 through February 2022 she took time to raise her growing family and is pleased to have the opportunity to once again serve the Secretary and the people of Arizona.

Joshua Michael Whitaker Related Seminars and Products

Josh Whitaker is an attorney in the Special Litigation Section of the Arizona Attorney General’s Office. He has worked at the Office since 2020. He previously spent three years in private practice at the law firm Osborn Maledon in Phoenix. Before that, he served as a law clerk to Judge Andrew Hurwitz in the Ninth Circuit, as well as Judge Neil Wake in the District of Arizona. He received his J.D. at Harvard and his B.A. at Arizona State University.

Luke Albert Douglas Related Seminars and Products

Luke Douglas serves as the Deputy General Counsel and Chief Procurement Officer for the Secretary of State’s Office, bringing him full circle after having previously served as Government Relations Director for a lobbying firm where he handled the firm’s and clients’ lobbyist and campaign finance filings with the Secretary. He comes to the State from the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, where he represented county government agencies in civil litigation and government advice. Previously serving part time as a Maricopa County judge, Luke brings a wealth or knowledge of government and those who do business with government. He currently serves on the Transportation Commission of the City of Phoenix.

Tracy Alice Olson Related Seminars and Products

Tracy A. Olson has been a member of the State Bar of Arizona since 2018. She received her Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting from Southern Methodist University in 2014 and her Juris Doctor, magna cum laude from the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law at Arizona State University in 2017. Following law school, Tracy clerked for Justice Clint Bolick on the Arizona Supreme Court. Currently, Tracy is a partner at Snell & Wilmer focusing her practice in special litigation and compliance. She represents businesses and individuals in constitutional, government relations and regulatory matters. Her state and federal constitution and government relations practice includes compliance consulting and trial and appellate litigation related to election law, political law and commercial litigation.

Rebecca Layne Related Seminars and Products

Rebecca Layne is a senior associate with Holtzman Vogel, focusing her practice on tax-exempt organizations, nonprofit and corporate governance, election law, tax strategy, and litigation.

Prior to joining the firm, Rebecca was a Senior Attorney with the Internal Revenue Service in the Office of Chief Counsel where she litigated numerous cases in the United States Tax Court and advised on a wide range of tax matters. Prior to her time at the IRS, she was an Honors Trial Attorney for the United States Department of Justice in the Tax Division, where she litigated dozens of cases throughout the Southeastern United States. She began her career as a law clerk to the Honorable Kathleen Kerrigan at the United States Tax Court. https://www.holtzmanvogel.com/attorneys/rebecca-layne

Christine Davis Related Seminars and Products

Assistant Attorney General/Ethics Counsel

Arizona Attorney General's Office

Christine Davis serves as Ethics Counsel at the Arizona Attorney General’s Office, where she also handles criminal appeals. Previously, Christine has worked as a prosecutor for the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, Ethics Counsel for the State Bar of Arizona, and in private practice, with litigation experience in state and federal court. Christine received her BA from Linfield University in McMinnville, OR and her JD from Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law. She is a member of the State Bar of Arizona’s Ethics Advisory Group and the Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers.

Joshua Alan Kredit Related Seminars and Products

is the Assistant Chief Deputy with the Arizona Attorney General's Office and has been with the Office since October 2019. Prior to joining the AG's Office, he worked for the Speaker of the House in the Arizona House of Representatives from December 2016 to October 2019, first as Senior Policy Advisor & General Counsel and then as Director of Policy & General Counsel. Before his time at the House, Josh worked at Center for Arizona Policy in various roles and ultimately as General Counsel & Vice President of Policy. He received his undergraduate and law degrees from Arizona State University. Josh is a native Arizonan, and he and his wife Katie are raising their five children in Goodyear, Arizona.