PHOENIX - Conceding that time - and ballots - had finally run out, Andrew Thomas formally conceded Tuesday he will not be the Republican nominee for attorney general.
Final results from the Secretary of State's Office show state school superintendent Tom Horne ended up with an 899-vote edge over the former Maricopa County attorney.
"As I promised during the campaign, I hereby endorse him and wish him the best in the general election," Thomas said in a prepared statement.
That endorsement, however, come after months of Thomas calling Horne a "con man" who was barred from trading by the Securities and Exchange Commission. He also got Horne to admit he failed to report a bankruptcy filing as required on certain state forms.
All that could have Horne going into the general election race with a handicap against Democrat Felecia Rotellini. She is a former assistant attorney general and was the superintendent of the Department of Financial Institutions in the Janet Napolitano administration.
Republicans hold the edge in voter registration in Arizona. But prior elections have shown that divisive Republican primaries in the attorney general's race can result in the office going to a Democrat.
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