Abe Hamadeh has no one to blame but his own legal team for a judge refusing to overturn his 2022 loss in the attorney general's race, Secretary of State Adrian Fontes argues.
In new filings Friday, Fontes' attorney Craig Morgan told the Arizona Supreme Court that Hamadeh's bid for a new trial has multiple flaws. If nothing else, Morgan said, the failed candidate is not legally entitled to documents β computer outputs of the choices made on each individual ballotΒ β he contends would buttress his claim he outpolled Democrat Kris Mayes.
The real problem, he said, is the way the lawyers for Hamadeh, his political supporters and the Republican National Committee handled their legal challenge in front of a Mohave County judge right after the 2022 election.
"Petitioners made tactical decisions before the superior court, failed to meaningfully advance their arguments concerning pre-trial discovery, and tarried through an expedited election contest.Β They pressed the arguments they wanted to press, as much or as little, as they desired," and they lost the case, Morgan said.Β
The justices have not indicated when they will rule on Hamadeh's request for a new trial.
In a parallel effort, Hamadeh is trying to get the court to decertify the results of the 2022 election and order it rerun in Maricopa County.
But in an order Friday, the justices rebuffed Hamadeh's request that they immediately review a Maricopa County judge's decision that there is no legal basis for his claims the county improperly included some early ballots in its count of the election.
Hamadeh can continue his parallel argument but the justices said he must go through the regular appellate process, something that, if he decides to pursue it, could go on long past the 2024 election in which he is a candidate for Congress.
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