Much of the country has heard about the Arizona gubernatorial race between Democrat Katie Hobbs and Republican Kari Lake. This is a race that Hobbs won by a narrow margin, despite Lake’s claims to the contrary and her failed efforts to overturn Hobbs’ victory in the courts.
Also in Arizona is another race that’s come under dispute since the results were called. This particular election is for attorney general between Democrat Kris Mayes and Republican Abe Hamadeh.
This race came down to the wire. Though Mayes ultimately walked away with the win. Despite Hamadeh pressing challenging the legal system on Mayes’ win, her victory still stands.
In fact, an automatic recount in Arizona upheld Mayes’ status as the new Arizona attorney general-elect, albeit by a smaller margin than before, as The Hill reports.
What to Know About the Arizona Recount
Ahead of the recount for Arizona’s attorney general election, Mayes was shown as beating Hamadeh by 511 votes. However, after the recount, Mayes’ lead narrowed down to 280 votes.
The Republican attorney general candidate has alleged problems with this election. In doing so, Hamadeh asked the court to keep current GOP Attorney General Mark Brnovich running things until all issues are sorted out.
The Arizona recount is over: Democrat Kris Mayes's win is confirmed. She'll be the attorney general.
Final margin: 280 votes over Hamadeh! Out of roughly 2.6 million.
(https://t.co/fk69gN4mqC)This confirms the four members of AZ's far-right slate endorsed by Trump all lost.
— Taniel (@Taniel) December 29, 2022
However, a judge turned down this motion from Hamadeh. Just yesterday, the judge also reaffirmed that Mayes received more votes than her GOP opponent.
Another effort of Hamadeh’s to challenge the Arizona attorney general election was turned down, due to a lack of proof showing problems that adversely impacted the race.
This, once again, parallels the failures of various litigation brought forward by Lake in the court systems.
A Wake-Up Call?
In Arizona, it is very clear that neither Lake nor Hamadeh are going to be the governor or attorney general. This means the state went from having Republicans occupy these offices to now having Democrats set to take over.
Amid Lake’s failed litigation efforts, there are more and more conversations about what her future in Arizona looks like. Hamadeh could be heading down a similar path; though so far, he hasn’t been as abrasive as Lake in making claims about electoral fraud.
I think I finally figured out what happened in arizona. Katie Hobbs received him more votes than Kari Lake because more people voted for her, and therefore Katie Hobbs will be the governor whereas Kari Lake will not.
— David Pakman (@dpakman) December 27, 2022
Some folks have stated this past midterms cycle needs to be a wakeup for the Republican Party. Running better candidates and distancing from former President Trump have both been posed as steps that conservatives should take for the sake of winning future elections.
In the meantime, the 2022 election results in Arizona remain settled.
What do you think about the Arizona recount results that once again affirm a win for the Democratic attorney general candidate? What do you think Republicans should do going forward in order to win in competitive states, such as Arizona?
Please let us know in the comments feed.
This article appeared in The Conservative Brief and has been published here with permission.
