Former Arizona State Rep. David Stringer is seeking the Republican nomination for Yavapai County Attorney against incumbent Dennis McGrane.
McGrane has served as county attorney since the Dec. 31, 2022 retirement of his predecessor Shelia Polk. Polk also handed Stringer his most recent electoral loss following his unsuccessful 2020 campaign for the same office, in which he received approximately one third of the vote.
“[McGrane] has over 28 years of legal experience in criminal prosecution, currently serving as the Yavapai County Attorney,” McGrane’s campaign website reads. “Before that, [McGrane] served as the Chief Deputy Yavapai County Attorney for 22 years in addition to over five years as a Deputy County Attorney. In 2023, [McGrane] received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Arizona Prosecuting Attorneys Advisory Council for his exemplary career in public service.”
Stringer was previously charged in Maryland with child sex crimes stemming from multiple sexual encounters with two intellectually-disabled teenage boys. The charges against Stringer were revealed following the discovery of a 1983 Baltimore, Md., police report.
Stringer entered a guilty plea to reduced charges and received a sentence of five years’ probation along with more than 1,000 hours of community service, and the records in the case were sealed.
“Stringer — a Republican lawmaker from Prescott who’s been under fire in recent months for making racist statements — was indicted on five sex offenses on Oct. 10, 1983, according to a microfilm copy of his case history obtained by Phoenix New Times from the Circuit Court for Baltimore City,” a Jan. 25, 2019 Phoenix New Times story stated. “That record appears to show a Maryland court entered a judgment of guilt for Stringer on three sex offenses. The case history also shows that he was sentenced to five years of probation in the case, and was ordered to seek treatment at a well-known clinic for people with sexual disorders.”
Stringer resigned from the House in March of 2019 shortly before a deadline for turning over documents to an Ethics Committee Investigation into the sex crime charges and racist remarks he had publicly made.
The former representative has been silent on social media about his campaign; however, Stringer is a partner in the parent company of area blog Prescott eNews, which has recently featured several ads for his campaign.
The Republican primary election will take place on Tuesday, July 30.
No Democrats have filed to run for the seat.
