'Bad faith' Arizona election lawsuit will cost Abe Hamadeh ... in court, at least
A Maricopa County judge has dismissed a lawsuit challenging the results of Arizona’s 2022 election.
If you think this is an April Fool’s stunt, think again.
This is Arizona where it may be April 1, but when it comes to elections, it is always Groundhog Day.
For the umpteenth time — really, can anybody keep count? — a judge has dismissed a lawsuit seeking to overturn the election held 1 year, 4 months and 24 days ago.
Hamadeh has lost 3 election challenges
This lawsuit came courtesy of Abe Hamadeh, who in late December filed his latest lawsuit demanding that the 2022 election results be tossed out and/or that he be named attorney general.
It’s his third failed elections challenge, perhaps proving that Arizona voters got it right when they took a pass on making him the state’s top lawyer.
Hamadeh’s lawsuit was not only dismissed but this time the judge found he filed it in “bad faith,” having lost previous lawsuits making the same claims about the county’s signature verification methods on early ballots.
“The Legislature enacted A.R.S. § 12-349 to discourage lawsuits for which there is no legitimate basis in fact or law,” Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Susanna Pineda wrote, in granting the state permission to seek sanctions.
“Yet in election matters, Arizona’s courts have emphasized that sanctions should be awarded only in rare cases, so as not to discourage legitimate challenges.
“This is such a case.”
He's now carpetbagging for Congress
Well, ouch. But ultimately, it won’t much matter.
Despite his insistence that he’s Arizona’s rightful attorney general, Hamadeh has packed up his carpetbag and set his sights on a seat in Congress.
Though he lives in Scottsdale, he’s running for the open seat in the northwest Valley’s heavily Republican 8th Congressional District.
Two other people who don’t live there, Donald Trump and Kari Lake, have declared him the best man for the job.
Meanwhile, House Speaker Ben Toma, a conservative Republican who actually has a record of accomplishment and an address in the district, has the backing of people like retiring Rep. Debbie Lesko, former Sen. Jon Kyl and former Gov. Jan Brewer.
So naturally, given the state of the Republican Party, Hamadeh would have to be considered the odds-on favorite.
Assuming, that is, that he can’t find a judge willing to crown him AG.
It's the same allegations, again, without proof
Hamadeh, who lost by 280 votes, has long contended that he really won the 2022 election, citing a variety of reasons thus far rejected by various judges. His latest spin was that “thousands — if not hundreds of thousands — of illegal ballots were counted.”
This, because Maricopa County elections workers compared their early ballot signatures to more recent signatures on file rather their original voter registration form.
Hamadeh, in his lawsuit, doesn’t explain how he knows that those “thousands — if not hundreds of thousands” of supposedly illegal ballots were cast for his opponent, Kris Mayes, but … hey … details.
No birthright citizenship: But Lake still endorses Hamadeh?
Hamadeh asked Judge Pineda to toss Mayes out of office, and either order the county to reverify all 1.3 million early ballots, which isn’t possible given that the ballots were long ago separated from the envelopes containing voter signatures …
Or to hold a new election, which isn’t likely given that the election was held 1 year, 4 months and 24 days ago ...
Or heck, just give him the job.
“Petitioner seeks the issuance of a writ of quo warranto to Respondent Kris Mayes, pursuant to A.R.S. § 12-2043,3 directing that she cease functioning as Arizona’s Attorney General and order the State Defendants to install Petitioner as the Attorney General, an office to which Petitioner is personally entitled,” Hamadeh wrote in his lawsuit.
Sanctions may lose him money, but not votes
Instead, the judge threw out his lawsuit, noting that the time for challenging the county’s signature verification process was before the election — not 13 months after the fact.
Then she made it clear that sanctions are headed Hamadeh’s way.
“Petitioner Hamadeh had previously filed two other causes of action,” she wrote. “He was aware when he filed the instant matter that his claims were contesting the election signature verification procedures utilized by Maricopa County and he had lost the exact same issue …
“The Court finds that this lawsuit was groundless and not brought in good faith.”
That’s going to cost him some money.
Sadly, given the state of the GOP, it’s not likely to cost him any votes.
Reach Roberts at [email protected]. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter, at @LaurieRoberts or on Threads at laurierobertsaz.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona election lawsuit will cost Abe Hamadeh (in court, at least)
