Keely Varvel

Assistant Secretary of State,  Arizona Secretary of State’s Office

Keely Varvel serves as the Assistant Secretary of State and Chief of Staff to Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes. With a 30-year career spanning both the legislative and administrative branches of government at the local, state and federal level in Arizona, Keely is a veteran government agency administrator, public policy advisor and political and communications strategist.

Keely is a seasoned election official, holding a Certified Elections and Registration Administrator (CERA) credential from the National Association of Election Officials and Auburn University. When Adrian Fontes was Maricopa County Recorder, Keely served as Chief Deputy Recorder from 2017-2021 and oversaw the operations and management of the Recorder’s Office and Elections Department. With nearly 2.5 million registered voters, Maricopa County is the second largest voting jurisdiction in the U.S.

She began her career as a Congressional staffer for US Congresswoman Karan English and then Keely went on to work for several years at the Arizona State Legislature for both the Senate and House Democratic Caucuses in various roles including policy advisor, communications director and chief of staff. During those years she also worked in fundraising, communications and management roles on nationally targeted political campaigns.

Keely was the Deputy Director of Governor Janet Napolitano’s Office of Children, Youth and Families and later was appointed to oversee administration of workforce related programs and then strategic agency initiatives at the Arizona Department of Economic Security.

Keely was chosen by the Arizona Business Journal as one of their Forty under 40 in 2009 and was awarded “Best Capitol Staffer” by the Arizona Capitol Times in 2013. She was honored with the “Medallion Award” by the National Association of Secretaries of State in 2021 for her leadership of the Maricopa County Elections Department during the challenges of the 2020 election. Keely is also a member of the City of Phoenix Historic Preservation Commission, appointed to the post by Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego in 2022.

Keely is a graduate of Northern Arizona University and alumnus of Arizona State University.