GLORIA REBECCA GOMEZ
Arizona Mirror
The Arizona Supreme Court should give failed GOP attorney general candidate Abraham Hamadeh another chance to overturn his 2022 loss, his legal team argued last week in an appeal to the high court.
The request aims to revive Hamadeh’s latest attempt to challenge his defeat, which was dismissed last month. The Republican, who lost the attorney general’s seat to Democrat Kris Mayes by just 280 votes, is seeking a new trial after one in December failed to convince a judge that widespread election misconduct cost him the race.
But in July, Mohave County Superior Court Judge Lee Jantzen rejected Hamadeh’s bid for a do-over, saying the time for election contests is long past and his revised arguments still don’t include any actual proof.
Hamadeh’s push for a new trial is based on claims that the statewide recount, which identified 507 uncounted votes in Pinal County, indicates issues occurred elsewhere. He also alleges that that changes made to Service Arizona and the Arizona Voter Information Database resulted in as many as 1,000 rejected provisional ballots.
Jennifer Wright, an attorney for Hamadeh, said that Jantzen’s interpretation of election laws is flawed, and the way he conducted Hamadeh’s December trial prevented Hamadeh’s attorneys from presenting sufficient evidence. The only recourse, she wrote, is for the state’s high court to greenlight a new trial.
“A new trial will ensure the people of Arizona are represented by the candidate who received the most valid votes — nothing more, nothing less,” she wrote.
