Despite the swearing-in of Kris Mayes as attorney general (D), Republican Abe Hamadeh is not giving up his election contest just yet, filing a motion for a new trial Tuesday night in the Mohave County Superior Court.
“Today, I am filing a ‘Motion for New Trial’ after the shocking revelations from the recount. It’s simple, if the judge allows us to inspect and count the ballots – we win. Kris Mayes will either resign or be removed from office. Count the votes accurately,” said Hamadeh.
Today, I am filing a ‘Motion for New Trial’ after the shocking revelations from the recount. It’s simple, if the judge allows us to inspect and count the ballots – we win.
Kris Mayes will either resign or be removed from office.
Count the votes accurately. pic.twitter.com/bBHgfm1Em7
— Abe Hamadeh (@AbrahamHamadeh) January 3, 2023
Hamadeh’s originally went to trial under Judge Lee F. Jantez on December 23rd, 2022. However, his case was ultimately dismissed by Jantez, who stated Hamadeh and his attorney did not meet the burden necessary to prove his claims that Election Day issues altered the outcome of his race.
Now, Hamadeh is asking for a new trial because there are no longer any time restraints, and further evidence has become apparent. The Republican National Committee again joins Hamadeh in this motion. The plaintiffs state they are only seeking to know for sure the count in this election is accurate, nothing more or less.
The plaintiffs argue that Mayes being sworn in as attorney general works in their favor because there is no longer any time restraint placed on this trial. The motion states that a candidate taking office does not automatically null an election contest. Hamadeh pointed to Hunt v. Campbell from 1917, where George Hunt succeeded in an election challenge a year into his opponent’s term as governor and took office after that. Hamadeh used this to say there is no reason his challenge cannot continue.
Moreover, the plaintiffs claim new evidence has surfaced relating to this race after the first complaint was dismissed. Mainly, this concerns the discrepancy seen in Pinal County. The unveiling of recount results in the attorney general’s race saw the gap between Hamadeh and Mayes shrink from 511 votes to 280, primarily due to a mishandling in Pinal County that resulted in a miscount of the votes.
As reported by Arizona Daily Independent, the discrepancy was likely due to human error. Some county officials knew it before Hamadeh went to trial, but that information was not shared with him or Jantez. In his motion, Hamadeh also stated that at the time, Secretary of State Katie Hobbs (D) would have also known about the discrepancy. Because a discrepancy existed in this race, and the race remains one of the closest in Arizona history, the plaintiffs argue that the court should now order a full ballot inspection to ensure the results are airtight.
“The recount results identified significant, material discrepancies that cast doubt upon the completeness and accuracy of the election results,” according to the motion. “If this is not grounds for a new trial, then nothing is.”
The defendants are required to respond within two weeks.
However, on the same day, Defendants submitted actions of their own, requesting sanctions against plaintiffs and attorney’s fees. Mayes alleged that allegations against her were based on “information and belief” rather than hard evidence. She argued that the trial “confirmed” that the plaintiffs never had the evidence they needed to overturn the results and never took “opportunities” to “abandon their groundless claims.” By continuing with the trial knowing they did not have the evidence, Mayes stated that constitutes grounds for awarding attorney’s fees under Arizona law.
Should defendant’s motion be granted, Hamadeh’s team will need to pay a $5,000 fee.
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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 “Abe Hamedeh” by Abe Hamedeh.
