A Thanksgiving week shout-out to the other Bill Gates

In the 2020 midterms, voters appear to have affirmed their faith in American democracy and the integrity of our elections. In battleground states (Pennsylvania, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, New Hampshire, Georgia, Nevada, and Arizona), almost all election deniers were defeated in races for the U.S. Senate, governor, and secretary of state.

Despite endless allegations that midterm elections were rigged, there has been no credible evidence of fraud or corruption.

Election officials throughout the country deserve a shout-out for the invaluable — and often invisible — role they play in ensuring that every legitimate vote is processed, counted, and if necessary, recounted.

Bill Gates, chairman of the Maricopa County, Ariz., board of supervisors exemplifies the superb work of these officials, accomplished despite threats of violence against them.

A lifelong Republican, Gates founded the Teenage Republican Club in his high school and was an officer of the Federation of College Republicans as an undergraduate at Drake University. A graduate of Harvard Law School, who has practiced law for 25 years, Gates has served as secretary of the Maricopa County Republican Committee, leader of GOP election integrity efforts, member of the Phoenix city council from 2009-2016 — including a stint as deputy mayor — and on many non-profit organizations. In 2016, Gates was elected to the board of supervisors of Maricopa County, the fourth largest county in the United States, with a population of 4.5 million people. He has been chairman since 2019. Gates is married and has three daughters.

After the board of supervisors (composed of  four Republicans and one Democrat) voted unanimously to certify that Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election in Maricopa County, election officials faced threats of violence.

“It’s just awful,” Gates said.

Noting “horrific” comments in response to his post of a Christmas card on his social media, Gates added: “Nothing is out of bounds… Do we really expect members of the board of supervisors to be subjected to death threats? It’s not really what you sign up for.”

Hours before a mob assaulted the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, 2021, a blogger recommended an “old-fashioned necktie party” to punish Arizona’s “treasonous” election officials; another encouraged MAGA vigilantes to gather outside supervisors’ homes, and provided their addresses. Gates evacuated his family to an Airbnb. When the Republican majority in the Arizona Senate (by one vote) refused to hold the board of supervisors in contempt, election deniers set up guillotines meant for them on the lawn of the state capitol. In August 2021, despite several audits, including one by the hyper-partisan Cyber Ninjas, all of which found no evidence of widespread fraud, Gates indicated that staff and supervisors in his office continued to receive phone calls “saying our families are gonna be slaughtered.”

For the midterms, it has been déjà vu all over again.

As Maricopa officials processed and counted votes (including almost 300,000 deposited in drop boxes on Election Day, an increase of 100,000 over 2020), Blake Masters, the Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, complained they had been incompetently handled. Kari Lake, the Republican candidate for governor, blasted election officials for allegedly slow-walking the release of results, acting “like we’re in some banana republic,” and making “it their mission to defeat America First Republicans.” Donald Trump claimed widespread “voter fraud” and demanded: “Do election over again.” Masters, Lake, and Trump provided no evidence to support their allegations.

“This isn’t about partisan politics,” Gates insisted. “It’s not about conservative versus liberal. This is about truth versus lies.”

Police were detailed to patrol around the Maricopa Election Center, stationing SUVs near a chain link fence along the street, flying surveillance helicopters overhead, and maintaining a security fence surrounding the perimeter. The “almost militarized zone,” according to Maricopa Sheriff Paul Penzone, was necessary to “protect ballots and people and the opportunity to vote in a free and thoughtful nation.”

“What really gives me energy,” Gates still says, “are all the workers here, the 3,000 workers who are out here trying to do the right thing. They’ve chosen to work in election administration. It’s so noble and it is so under attack.”

The citizens of Maricopa County, and, in fact, all Americans (Republicans, Democrats, and independents), are the beneficiaries of his commitment, competence, and courage — as well as that of his colleagues and every other guardian of free and fair elections who is trying to do the right thing.

This week let’s be thankful for election workers, who — more than ever — sacrifice for American democracy.

Glenn C. Altschuler is the Thomas and Dorothy Litwin Professor of American Studies at Cornell University. He is the co-author (with Stuart Blumin) of “Rude Republic: Americans and Their Politics in the Nineteenth Century.”