Former Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich dies at 59

Former Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich has died, according to a Tuesday, Jan. 13 statement from the Brnovich family. He was 59 years old.

The family asked for privacy and said memorial service arrangements will be announced when available.

He is survived by his wife, Susan Brnovich, a U.S. District Court Judge, and their two daughters.

Brnovich, a Republican, served eight years as attorney general between 2015 to 2023.

A cause of death was not provided in the statement.

In a statement to AZPM, current Attorney General Kris Mayes said she was saddened by Brnovich’s death.

“Mark dedicated many years to public service in Arizona, including his two terms as Attorney General,” Mayes said. “Arizona is grateful for his service. My thoughts, and those of everyone he worked with at the Arizona Attorney General’s Office, are with his loved ones today."

In a statement on X, Governor Katie Hobbs said she was thinking of Brnovich’s family and loved ones during a difficult time.

Former Gov. Doug Ducey expressed condolences as well, writing that it was an honor to campaign with and serve alongside Brnovich.

“His passion for the law, justice, and victims were hallmarks of his career in public service,” Ducey wrote. “For those of us blessed to call him a friend, his humor, positivity, and happy warrior spirit were infectious.”

Brnovich was elected as Arizona's 26th Attorney General in November 2014.

In 2015, Brnovich advocated for states to ban same-sex marriage.

After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that prohibitions on same-sex marriage were unconstitutional, Brnovich directed Arizona's Department of Child Safety to allow only married heterosexual couples to adopt children. Then-Governor Ducey disagreed and had the department overturn the policy, the Arizonan Daily Star reported.

As attorney general, Brnovich’s notable consumer protection efforts include a $4.65 million settlement in 2017 with Theranos, Inc. to resolve an Arizona Consumer Fraud Act.

Under the settlement, the 76,000 Arizonans who received a blood test over that time period received a full refund. Theranos was banned from owning, operating, or directing a lab in Arizona for two years.

After the 2020 presidential election, Brnovich’s office created the Election Integrity Unit to review allegations of voter fraud and irregularities, many of which mirrored national false claims about the election.

Investigators with his office completed reports in 2022 that concluded there was no evidence of widespread voter fraud that would have changed Arizona’s election outcome. Bronovich also acknowledged that Joe Biden won Arizona.

Brnovich did not, however, release the full report while he was in office.

In August 2022, His office alleged the city of Tucson violated Arizona law and discriminated against its own employees who requested religious accommodations or disability-based medical exemptions to Tucson’s vaccine mandate.

Tucson’s vaccination requirement, adopted in August 2021, required all city employees (more than 4,000 workers) to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or submit requests for religious accommodations or medical exemptions.

According to Brnovich, city workers were given only three days to get the shot or file an exemption, and those who missed the deadline were subjected to unpaid leave or other job-related actions.

The complaint was settled out of court in 2023, according to court records.

He unsuccessfully ran for the U.S. Senate in 2022, losing in the primary to Blake Masters.

President Donald Trump later nominated Brnovich as the U.S. ambassador to Serbia, in March, however the White House withdrew his application in October.

In his last social media activity on X, Brnovich posted about the passing of Bob Weir– one of the founding members of the Grateful Dead.