[2][3] Previously Mayes was a Professor of Practice at Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law and Chair of the Arizona Corporation Commission.

[11] Mayes then won the Harry S. Truman Scholarship and attended graduate school at Columbia University in New York, where she earned a Master of Public Administration.

[10] Following graduate school, Mayes returned to The Arizona Republic, where she covered the 2000 presidential campaigns of Senator John McCain, former Vice President Dan Quayle, publisher Steve Forbes and Governor George W.

[11] From this experience, Mayes co-authored a book entitled Spin Priests: Campaign Advisors and the 2000 Race for the White House.

[18] On December 29, Judge Timothy Thomason announced the results of the recount, confirming Mayes as the winner with a reduced margin of 280 votes.

In January 2024, Mayes announced that the Attorney General's office would file suit against Kroger's proposed acquisition of Albertsons, citing antitrust laws.

That day, Mayes launched an investigation as to whether Trump's statement qualified as a prosecutable death threat under Arizona law.