President Donald Trump called Maricopa County “very, very dishonest” after county vendor Runbeck mistakenly mailed more than 3,000 early ballots six days ahead of schedule.
County officials say the ballots remain valid.
When a reporter asked Trump about the early mailing Monday, he rejected the explanation that it was an error.
“There were no errors,” Trump said. “Maricopa sent out thousands of ballots illegally, and they got caught! And now they’re saying it was an error. Maricopa is a very, very dishonest county,” he said at a Monday news conference.
Runbeck Election Services, which prints and mails the county’s early ballots, told the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office on Oct. 2 that it had mailed 3,126 early ballots the previous day.
The scheduled mailing date is Oct. 7.
The Recorder’s Office claimed it did not authorize the early mailing and learned of it only afterward.
The correct ballots went to the correct voters, all of whom had requested them, according to the office.
After consulting the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, the Recorder’s Office determined the ballots do not need to be voided or reissued.
Voters can fill them out and return them as usual.
Any ballots received before early voting begins will stay sealed and in secure storage until processing starts, the office said.
In a statement Sunday, Runbeck said the ballots had been processed separately because they did not qualify for automated postal handling.
A pallet holding them was mistakenly released with other mail on the evening of Oct. 1.
“The early delivery was a matter of timing in the release of staged mail to the USPS and did not involve the validity or production of the VBM packets,” the company said.
Runbeck said it has added verification steps so staged mail goes out on its scheduled date. The Recorder’s Office said Runbeck has accepted responsibility and will work with the office to prevent a repeat.
This comes as Republicans are entering the final stretch of the 2026 midterm elections with a financial advantage that could be decisive in the battle for Congress.
With control of the House and Senate at stake, President Trump and Republican organizations have amassed hundreds of millions of dollars to defend GOP majorities and target Democrats across critical battleground states.
The numbers demonstrate just how formidable the Republican financial machine has become.
Federal Election Commission data through June showed Republican Party committees holding roughly $301 million in cash, compared with about $186 million for Democratic committees.
The Republican National Committee alone reported $128.5 million available, while the Democratic National Committee held just $16.3 million and carried $18.5 million in debt.
That advantage extends into the battle for the House.
The National Republican Congressional Committee announced in September that its war chest had reached $89 million, giving Republicans what the committee described as its largest cash advantage over Democrats at this stage of an election cycle.
Then came another extraordinary injection of cash.
An October fundraiser featuring Trump generated a record-breaking $36.8 million for the NRCC and Republican candidates, according to the committee.
But the biggest financial weapon available to Republicans may belong to Trump’s political operation.
MAGA Inc., Trump’s powerhouse super PAC, entered September with approximately $415 million available, an enormous stockpile that Republican strategists had spent months waiting to see deployed.
Now, that money is pouring onto the battlefield.
Republican-aligned groups have reserved at least $888 million in political advertising during the closing stretch, compared with at least $666 million for Democratic groups, according to AdImpact figures reported by Reuters.
The Senate operation is equally formidable.
The Senate Leadership Fund, aligned with Senate Majority Leader John Thune, and affiliated organizations announced in August that they had raised more than $500 million this cycle.
More recent reporting indicates the organization alone has raised more than $600 million while deploying hundreds of millions into competitive Senate contests.
This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
