FILE - Abraham Hamadeh, a Republican candidate for Arizona attorney general, is seen prior to a debate against Democrat Kris Mayes on Sept. 28, 2022. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)
PHOENIX — A court is scheduled on Thursday to unveil the winners of the Arizona attorney general’s race and two other elections that were so close they triggered mandatory recounts.
The highly anticipated results are among the last in the country to come out of November’s election and could solidify another victory for Democrats who shunned election fraud conspiracies in what used to be a solidly Republican state.
In one of the tightest elections in state history, Democrat Kris Mayes was ahead of Republican Abraham Hamadeh by 511 votes out of 2.5 million before the recount began in the attorney general’s race.
Judge Timothy Thomason also will announce recount results in races for state superintendent of public instruction and a state legislative seat in the Phoenix suburbs.
Hamadeh, who hasn’t conceded to Mayes, had filed a separate challenge of the results in his race, but a judge dismissed that case last week.
Hamadeh alleged problems with ballot printers in Maricopa County had led to a series of issues that disenfranchised voters and that his race was affected by improper handling of ballots that were duplicated or adjudicated by people because they could not be read by tabulators. In throwing out the lawsuit, the judge concluded Hamadeh didn’t prove the errors in vote counting that he had alleged.
FILE – Kris Mayes, a Democratic candidate for Arizona attorney general, smiles before a debate against Republican Abraham Hamadeh on Sept. 28, 2022. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)
In the race for superintendent of public instruction, Republican Tom Horne held a nearly 9,000-vote lead over Democrat Kathy Hoffman before the start of the recount. Hoffman had previously conceded to Horne, a former schools chief who served one term as attorney general before losing the 2014 primary.
Horne had criticized Hoffman for embracing progressive teaching and promised to shut down any hint of “critical race theory,” which is not taught in state schools but is a hot-button issue for social conservatives. He also had said schools were shut down for far too long during the pandemic at Hoffman’s urging.
Republican Liz Harris went into the recount 270 votes ahead of Republican Julie Willoughby in the race for a seat in state House District 13, which includes parts of Chandler, Sun Lakes and Gilbert. Rep. Jennifer Pawlik, an incumbent Democrat, had won one of the district’s two state House seats by a margin of victory that exceeded the threshold for a recount.
Although Republican Kari Lake filed an unsuccessful lawsuit challenging her loss to Democrat Katie Hobbs in the Arizona governor’s race by just over 17,000 votes, the governor’s race wasn’t close enough to automatically force a recount.
Recounts are required in Arizona in races where the margin between the leading candidates is 0.5%. Hobbs defeated Lake by 0.67%.
The judge who dismissed Lake’s case rejected her claim that problems with ballot printers at some polling places on Election Day were the result of intentional misconduct.
Lake, who has not conceded, is appealing the dismissal of her lawsuit with the Arizona Supreme Court. Hobbs takes office as governor on Monday.
Once a Republican stronghold, Arizona’s top races went resoundingly for Democrats. Republicans had nominated a slate of candidates backed by former President Donald Trump who focused on supporting his false claims about the 2020 election. In addition to Hobbs and Mayes, Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly was reelected and Democrat Adrian Fontes won the race for secretary of state.
FALMOUTH, MA – The police in Falmouth have identified the victim in an accident involving a car plunging into the ocean on February 20, NBC10 Boston reported.
THESSALONIKI – Video Art Miden collaborates with ToPikap in Thessaloniki, presenting the video art program ‘Frozen’, curated by Gioula and Olga Papadopoulou, on Saturday, February 4.
SAN FRANCISCO – The opening of Uproot, the Greek Chamber Music Project (GCMP) concert tour marking the centennial of the Asia Minor Catastrophe, takes place on Friday, February 3, 8 PM, at Old First Concert, 1751 Sacramento Street in San Francisco, and live-streamed online.
MILAN — Italy's government has increased security around its diplomatic missions around the globe in response to “a crescendo of terroristic attacks” by an anarchist network that has been acting in solidarity with an imprisoned Italian militant, the foreign minister said Tuesday.
Sign up for a subscription
Want to save this article? Get a subscription to access this feature and more!
To purchase a gift subscription, please log out of your account, and purchase the subscription with a new email ID.
On April 2, 2021, we celebrated The National Herald’s 106th Anniversary. Help us maintain our independent journalism and continue serving Hellenism worldwide.
In order to deliver a more personalized, responsive, and improved experience, we use cookies to remember information about how you use this site. By Continuing to access the website, you agree that we will store data in a cookie as outlined in our Privacy Policy.
We use cookies on our site to personalize your experience, bring you the most relevant content, show you the most useful ads, and to help report any issues with our site. You can update your preferences at any time by visiting preferences. By selecting Accept, you consent to our use of cookies. To learn more about how your data is used, visit our cookie policy.
You’re reading 1 of 3 free articles this month. Get unlimited access to The National Herald. or Log In
You’ve reached your limit of free articles for this month. Get unlimited access to the best in independent Greek journalism starting as low as $1/week.