Kristin Mayes

Kristin Kay Mayes is an American reporter, lawyer, and politician who is the Arizona Attorney General. A member of the Democratic Party, Mayes was elected in 2022, defeating Republican Abraham Hamadeh by a margin of just 280 votes, making this one of the closest elections in the state's history. Previously Mayes was a Professor of Practice at Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law and Chair of the Arizona Corporation Commission. Mayes is the second woman elected Arizona Attorney General (after Janet Napolitano), the third openly lesbian woman elected attorney general of a state in the United States (after Maura Healey and Dana Nessel), and the second openly LGBT person elected to statewide office in Arizona (after Kyrsten Sinema). Early life and education Mayes was born and raised in Prescott, Arizona. After graduating from Prescott High School she attended Arizona State University (ASU) on a scholarship from the Flinn Foundation. While attending ASU she served as editor in chief of the State Press, the university's newspaper. She graduated valedictorian from ASU with a degree in political science. Journalism career Mayes worked as a general assignment reporter for the Phoenix Gazette, and later as a political reporter for The Arizona Republic, covering the Arizona State Legislature. Mayes then won the Harry S. Truman Scholarship and attended graduate school at Columbia University in New York, where she earned a Master of Public Administration.