Results of the Arizona general election recount were revealed in court Thursday morning, showing that results in the race for attorney general between Democrat Kris Mayes and Republican Abe Hamadeh shrunk, but not enough to overturn the race. The final results are 1,254,809 for Mayes and 1,254,529 for Hamadeh, narrowing the gap from 511 votes before the recount to 280.

Following the reveal, Hamadeh tweeted that his legal team is in the process of assessing options.

“The results of the recount show that my opponent’s lead has been cut by nearly half from 511 to 280 votes. A shockingly high discrepancy. Again, a recount just puts the ballots in the machine again. My legal team will be assessing our options to make sure every vote is counted,” Hamadeh tweeted.

As for the other races that went to an automatic recount, Republican Tom Horne was affirmed as the next Superintendent of Public Instruction. Horne previously told The Arizona Sun Times that the recount was a “non-issue” for his race as he led by over 8,000 going into it. His final victory was by 9,188 votes.

The third race decided by the recount was for Arizona House of Representatives Legislative District 13 (LD13) between two Republicans, Liz Harris and Julie Willoughby. By 257 votes, Harris is the confirmed representative-elect.

Yet, in the morning before the recount reveals, Hamadeh shared that his team was seeking a motion for stay to delay the inauguration of Mayes, which is set to take place on January 2nd, 2023 until a discrepancy in the recount could be resolved. He also requested that current Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich (R) remain in office until “all issues are resolved.”

However, at the Thursday court hearing Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Timothy Thomason denied Hamadeh’s attempt to stay, stating that his “case is over.”

The notion of a discrepancy in the recount first came to light Wednesday. Garrett Archer with ABC 15 said an informant told him a potential discrepancy in the recount results would favor Hamadeh. Additionally, conservative political consultant Constantin Querard received word that a discrepancy would trend Hamadeh and accused Secretary of State Katie Hobbs of slow-walking the results.

As reported by Arizona Daily Independent, the discrepancy occurred in Pinal County due to a “system failure,” which potentially accounted for 300 votes. Moreover, this issue may have been known before Hamadeh and Republican gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake filed separate lawsuits challenging the 2022 election results, but the discrepancy was unknown to both candidates.

Both Lake’s and Hamadeh’s cases were dismissed by the courts, stating that neither candidate proved that mistakes or intentional wrongdoing altered the outcomes of the 2022 election. Lake officially appealed her dismissal on Wednesday, asking the Arizona Supreme Court to reconsider all ten of her original counts made in her initial complaint.

Moreover, Arizona Republican Party Chairwoman, Dr. Kelli Ward, tweeted that she hoped Hamadeh would go to the Arizona Supreme Court to get a further inspection of Maricopa and Pima Counties ballots.

Hamadeh also tweeted an interest in inspecting more ballots, saying it is needed because of the discrepancy.

“We MUST get to the bottom of this election. Transparent elections are fundamental to a democracy. A discrepancy this big in the recount calls for an inspection of ALL the ballots,” Hamadeh tweeted.

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Neil Jones is a reporter for The Arizona Sun Times and The Star News Network. Follow Neil on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Kris Mayes” by Kris Mayes. Photo “Abe Hamadeh” by Abe Hamadeh. Background Photo “Arizona Capitol” by Gage Skidmore. CC BY-SA 2.0.

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