A recount in the race for Arizona's attorney general has confirmed Democrat Kris Mayes as the winner in one of the closest elections in the state's history.
Mayes defeated Republican Abraham Hamadeh by 280 votes following the recount.
Democrat @krismayes wins Arizona attorney general race, recount confirms, after one of the closest races in state history https://t.co/X3mqLabb0B
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) December 30, 2022
"The results were even closer than the original count during the midterm elections, which saw Mayes lead by 511 votes, but the reason for the discrepancy was not clear," the Washington Examiner reported.
“A shockingly high discrepancy,” Hamadeh tweeted. “Again, a recount just puts the ballots in the machine again. My legal team will be assessing our options to make sure every vote is counted.”
The results of the recount show that my opponent’s lead has been cut by nearly half from 511 to 280 votes. A shockingly high discrepancy. Again, a recount just puts the ballots in the machine again.
My legal team will be assessing our options to make sure every vote is counted.
— Abe Hamadeh (@AbrahamHamadeh) December 29, 2022
Hamadeh has yet to concede the race. Instead, he filed a separate lawsuit concerning voting problems in Maricopa County that was dismissed last week.
The voting concerns related to Maricopa County also come as Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake has fought in a legal battle with the county after her loss to Democrat Katie Hobbs.
Pinal County finds 100s of uncounted ballots cast for @AbrahamHamadeh.
Katie Hobbs has known about the votes since 12/22 (during the @KariLake trial)
This is insane! https://t.co/SDd49Eiwae
— Republican Party of Arizona (@AZGOP) December 29, 2022
The state's Republican Party also blasted the latest effort.
"A significant discrepancy between Pinal County’s officially canvassed vote tally and its recount tally of ballots cast in the 2022 General Election ballots is expected," the Arizona Independent Daily reported.
"The results of the statutorily required recount in 3 races were expected to be released on December 22nd however, inexplicably, Secretary of State Katie Hobbs petitioned the courts to have the results go directly to her office and asked to postpone the release until December 29th," it added.
The concerning election and recount also came with Hobbs serving as secretary of state where she was responsible for confirming her own results, a matter some have called attention to in the debate.
The latest recount shows how close the election was and why Republicans are upset over the voting process in Arizona.
