Judge rules against Arizona Republican candidate for attorney general who sued to reverse results

An Arizona judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought forward the Republican candidate for state attorney general, ruling that his challenge to the election results, failed to prove that mistakes in the election process impacting the outcome.

The lawsuit was filed by GOP nominee Abraham Hamadeh and the Republican National Committee (RNC). The defendants listed are Democratic nominee Kris Mayes, Arizona Secretary of State and newly elected Governor Katie Hobbs, and several other election officials.

Mayes led Hamadeh by 511 votes in the initial count, triggering a statewide recount. The results of the recount will be announced next week.

Hamadeh argued that Maricopa County officials improperly disqualified early voters who were marked as having already voted because of poll worker error.

Mohave County Superior Court Judge Lee Jantzen ultimately ruled that Hamadeh failed to prove that election day problems were enough to change the election results.

“The bottom line is you just haven’t proven your case. You haven’t met the burden. The mistakes that may have been made were not enough to overcome the presumption the court has to have in election cases,” Jantzen said, adding: “It just doesn’t overcome the presumption that the election was done correctly.”

Republican candidates Kari Lake, the nominee for governor, and Mark Finchem, who ran for secretary of state, also filed election challenges at the same time as Hamadeh. Finchem’s lawsuit has already been dismissed and Lake’s arguments have been largely rejected by the court.

However, unlike Lake’s lawsuit, Hamadeh said he is not alleging widespread voter fraud.