At a campaign event in Yavapai hosted by the Arizona Farm Bureau, Secretary of State Adrian Fontes and his opponent, State Representative Alex Kolodin, sat side by side to address the recent security breach of the SOS website. The breach, first publicly acknowledged by Fontes’ office on July 1, 2025, in a low-profile memo, reportedly involved hackers with suspected ties to Iran who replaced candidate photos on the website with inflammatory messages and propaganda referencing revenge. While the SOS did shut down the candidate portal temporarily to fix the hack, the Secretary’s office has yet to provide a full accounting of which systems were affected or what data may have been exposed.

The Secretary of State claimed that for the past two years, he submitted budget requests for the money and programs he needed, but the legislature failed to fund them. Representative Alex Kolodin rebutted, “He does everything possible to dodge accountability.” He continued, “His systems just got hacked, and he blames the legislature. But here’s the truth—his budget has dramatically increased over the past three years.” Kolodin concluded, “He could have used it for cybersecurity, but instead he wants to take the money and funnel it to radical groups that compete against you—the people.”

According to its public statement, the Arizona Secretary of State experienced a cybersecurity event on or before July 1, 2025, during which a third party may have gained access to one or more of its systems. While the statement indicates that an attack was detected, investigated, and continues to be monitored, it failed to provide details.

In response, the Republican National Committee (RNC) and the Arizona Republican Party (AZGOP) are calling on Fontes to release a fully detailed accounting of the July cybersecurity breach. According to a formal public records request submitted July 22, 2025, the RNC and AZGOP are demanding immediate transparency and full disclosure regarding which systems were compromised, the origin and nature of the attack, and the steps taken to mitigate further risks.

“Arizonans deserve immediate transparency about the cybersecurity breach that could undermine confidence in our elections,” said AZGOP Chairwoman Gina Swoboda. “This is not a partisan issue—it’s an issue of trust and security. We expect swift and comprehensive cooperation from the Secretary of State’s office.”