Thomas re-elected as county attorney

Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas appeared headed to re-election Tuesday night with a comfortable lead over Democrat Tim Nelson. In unofficial results, Thomas defeated Nelson, who raised and spent more money then the incumbent.

Thomas, a Republican, credited Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio for his political success.

Maricopa County election results

“I’d like to thank this guy,” Thomas said to Arpaio at a celebration after the election. “This guy is a rock.”

Arpaio campaigned with Thomas, including joint television commercials touting their departments’ work to combat illegal immigration.

Nelson conceded to Thomas about 10 p.m. He had little to say about his own race, other than that he was disappointed. Instead he took the opportunity to praise the election of Barack Obama as president.

“Despite my disappointmnet, I have never been so proud to be a Democrat than right now,” Nelson said.

Thomas has served four years as the county’s top prosecutor. He previously worked as a prosecutor in the county attorney’s office and as an assistant attorney general.

Thomas lost a bid for attorney general in 2002.

Nelson worked as Gov. Janet Napolitano’s chief legal adviser for five years. He left that position in January to launch his campaign for county attorney.

Nelson was not immediately available for comment.

Nelson raised, and spent, almost $120,000 more than Thomas despite being the race’s challenger, and a Democrat in a reliably Republican county.

But the fundraising and endorsement advantages appear to have done little to help Nelson overcome Republicans’ voter registration advantage.

The race for county attorney was heated and overwhelmingly negative.

Starting just days after the Democratic primary in September, Thomas and Nelson sparred over campaign contributors, the death penalty, enforcement of immigration law, conviction rates and use of outside lawyers.

They attacked each other’s integrity. They ridiculed each other’s political positions.

Thomas’ campaign worked to cast Nelson as unwilling to fight for stiff penalties for convicts. Nelson characterized Thomas as a zealot whose policies waste taxpayer dollars.

Arizonans for Responsible Law Enforcement, a political action committee supporting Nelson, went so far as to describe Thomas as “drunk with power” in a radio commercial that aired during the campaign’s final week.

For his part, Thomas rarely used Nelson’s name without bringing up the American Civil Liberties Union, whom Nelson represented in one lawsuit a decade ago.

However, it was outside groups that generated some of the most aggressive attack ads — and prompted allegations of campaign finance violations.

Last week, Thomas’ campaign filed a complaint with the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office accusing the state Democratic Party of violations for funding the anti-Thomas radio spot.

Earlier, the Nelson campaign leveled similar allegations against Thomas for a state