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2022 Arizona Attorney General election

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2022 Arizona Attorney General election
← 2018 November 8, 2022 2026 →
 
Nominee Kris Mayes Abraham Hamadeh
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote 1,254,809 1,254,529
Percentage 49.94% 49.93%
Mayes:      50–60%      60–70%
Hamadeh:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
Attorney General before election

Mark Brnovich
Republican

Elected Attorney General

Kris Mayes
Democratic

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The 2022 Arizona Attorney General election took place on November 8, 2022, to elect the next attorney general of Arizona concurrently with other federal and state elections. Incumbent Republican attorney general Mark Brnovich was term-limited and could not seek a third term in office.[1] With a margin of 0.01%, Democrat Kris Mayes defeated Republican Abe Hamadeh in one of the closest elections in Arizona history, and the closest attorney general race of the 2022 election cycle. The race is also believed to be the only election directly affected by the deaths of anti-vaccine advocates from COVID-19.[2]

On November 21, the final tally of votes initially left Mayes leading Hamadeh by just 510 votes out of more than 2.5 million cast. This triggered an automatic recount under Arizona law; the recount was completed on December 29 with the Democrat winning by an even slimmer 280 vote margin and just 0.01%, making it the closest statewide election in any state in 2022. The results were certified by the Secretary of State and the election process completed on December 29.[3][4] Hamadeh filed a lawsuit to block certification of the election, but state courts rejected it as election challenges could only be filed after certification.[5] Mayes became the first Democrat to win this office since Terry Goddard in 2006.

Republican primary

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Candidates

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Declared

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Endorsements

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Rodney Glassman
U.S. Representatives
Andrew Gould
Statewide officials
Abraham Hamadeh
U.S. Executive Branch officials
Organizations
  • Veterans for Trump [18]
Tiffany Shedd
Organizations

Polling

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Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size[a] 		Margin
of error 		Lacy
Cooper 		Rodney
Glassman 		Andy
Gould 		Dawn
Grove 		Abe
Hamadeh 		Tiffany
Shedd 		Other Undecided
Rasmussen Reports July 27–28, 2022 710 (LV) ± 4.0% 4% 21% 12% 6% 26% 4% 6% 20%
OH Predictive Insights July 27, 2022 502 (LV) ± 4.4% 2% 16% 7% 5% 31% 4% – 35%
KAConsulting LLC (R) July 11–12, 2022 400 (RV) ± 4.9% 2% 6% 5% 10% 17% 3% – 57%
OH Predictive Insights June 30 – July 2, 2022 515 (LV) ± 4.3% 3% 6% 6% 5% 7% 4% – 68%
Cygnal (R)[A] June 9–10, 2022 – (LV) – 1% 4% 6% 4% 10% 5% – 72%
OH Predictive Insights April 4–5, 2022 500 (LV) ± 4.4% 4% 5% 5% 3% 3% 4% – 76%

Results

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Republican primary results by county
  Hamadeh
  •   20–30%
  •   30–40%
  Glassman
  •   20–30%
  •   30–40%
  Gould
  •   30-40%
Republican primary results[20]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Abraham Hamadeh 265,636 33.56%
Republican Rodney Glassman 186,863 23.60%
Republican Andrew Gould 132,253 16.71%
Republican Dawn Grove 94,670 11.96%
Republican Lacy Cooper 67,742 8.56%
Republican Tiffany Shedd 44,453 5.61%
Total votes 791,617 100.0%

Democratic primary

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Candidates

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Declared

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Withdrew

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Declined

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Endorsements

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Kristin Mayes
Organizations

Results

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Democratic primary results[20]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Kris Mayes 556,351 100.0%
Total votes 556,351 100.0%

Libertarian primary

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Candidates

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Declared

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Results

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Libertarian primary results [20]
Party Candidate Votes %
Libertarian Michael Kielsky (write-in) 571 100.0%
Total votes 571 100.0%

General election

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Predictions

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Source Ranking As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball[28] Tossup November 3, 2022
Elections Daily[29] Leans R November 1, 2022
A yard sign supporting Mayes in Tucson

Endorsements

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Abraham Hamadeh (R)
U.S. Executive Branch officials
Kris Mayes (D)
U.S. Executive Branch officials
Labor unions
Organizations

Polling

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Graphical summary
Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size[a] 		Margin
of error 		Abraham
Hamadeh (R) 		Kristin
Mayes (D) 		Other Undecided
Data Orbital (R) November 4–6, 2022 550 (LV) ± 4.3% 48% 45% 1%[b] 5%
KAConsulting (R)[B] November 2–3, 2022 501 (LV) ± 4.4% 46% 39% – 10%
Big Data Poll (R) October 31 – November 3, 2022 1,051 (LV) ± 5.0% 49% 46% – 6%
HighGround Inc. November 1–2, 2022 500 (LV) ± 4.4% 44% 42% 1%[c] 13%
OH Predictive Insights October 24–26, 2022 600 (LV) ± 4.0% 42% 45% – 12%
Susquehanna Polling & Research (R)[C] October 14–18, 2022 600 (LV) ± 4.0% 42% 45% 4%[d] 10%
The Trafalgar Group (R)[A] October 10–16, 2022 1,084 (LV) ± 2.9% 47% 43% – 10%
HighGround Inc. October 12–13, 2022 500 (LV) ± 4.4% 43% 38% 2%[e] 17%
Big Data Poll (R) October 2–5, 2022 974 (LV) ± 3.1% 47% 42% – 12%
Global Strategy Group (D)[D] September 13–20, 2022 800 (LV) ± 3.5% 45% 45% – 10%
The Trafalgar Group (R) September 14–17, 2022 1,080 (LV) ± 2.9% 50% 41% – 9%
Hypothetical polling
Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size[a] 		Margin
of error 		Generic
Republican 		January
Contreras (D) 		Undecided
Data for Progress (D)[E] September 15–22, 2020 481 (LV) ± 4.4% 40% 39% 22%

Certified results

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2022 Arizona Attorney General election[34]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Kris Mayes 1,254,613 50.00% +1.74%
Republican Abraham Hamadeh 1,254,102 49.98% −1.74%
Libertarian Samantha Severson (write-in) 418 0.02% N/A
Total votes 2,509,133 100.0%

Recount

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On December 5, 2022, following election certification, Secretary of State Katie Hobbs petitioned the Maricopa County Superior Court to initiate a recount for the Attorney General election.[35][36] On the same day, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Timothy J. Thomason ordered for the recount to begin.[37] Under Arizona state law, an automatic recount is triggered if the margin is ≤0.5%.[38] In the Attorney General race, Democrat Kris Mayes led Republican Abraham Hamadeh by 511 votes, a margin of 0.02%, which fell within the automatic recount threshold.[34]

As of December 28, all counties had completed their recount tabulations, and audited and sent their final results to the Arizona Secretary of State's office. The office was to compile and provide the results to the Maricopa County Superior Court, which may be released upon the court's certification. This hearing was scheduled for the 21st; however, the office motioned the court on that day to reschedule it to the 29th at 10 a.m. (only four days prior to the inauguration of the winner) due to the delays in Pinal County.[39][40][41]

On December 29, Judge Timothy Thomason announced the results of the recount, confirming Kris Mayes as the winner with a reduced margin of 280 votes.[42]

Recount results

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2022 Arizona Attorney General election[43]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Kris Mayes 1,254,809 49.94% +1.68%
Republican Abraham Hamadeh 1,254,529 49.93% −1.80%
Write-in 3,052 0.12% +0.11%
Total votes 2,512,390 100.0%
Democratic gain from Republican
By county
[edit]
[34][43] Kris Mayes
Democratic 		Abraham Hamadeh
Republican
County Certified votes Recount votes Change Certified votes Recount votes Change
Apache 17,871 17,930 +59 8,481 8,494 +13
Cochise 18,481 18,480 -1 27,664 27,664 Steady
Coconino 34,043 34,043 Steady 19,700 19,700 Steady
Gila 7,727 7,727 Steady 14,538 14,538 Steady
Graham 3,084 3,085 +1 7,640 7,640 Steady
Greenlee 938 938 Steady 1,462 1,462 Steady
La Paz 1,648 1,653 +5 3,775 3,788 +13
Maricopa 766,869 766,874 +5 740,960 740,965 +5
Mohave 19,583 19,585 +2 60,592 60,593 +1
Navajo 18,119 18,129 +10 21,748 21,747 -1
Pima 236,264 236,264 Steady 157,350 157,348 -2
Pinal 58,953 59,068 +115 82,724 83,116 +392
Santa Cruz 8,723 8,721 -2 4,282 4,283 +1
Yavapai 42,810 42,813 +3 77,481 77,487 +6
Yuma 19,500 19,499 -1 25,705 25,704 -1
By congressional district
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Mayes won 5 out of 9 congressional districts, including two that elected Republicans.[44]

District Mayes Hamadeh Representative
1st 51.4% 48.6% David Schweikert
2nd 45.8% 54.2% Tom O'Halleran (117th Congress)
Eli Crane (118th Congress)
3rd 75.8% 24.2% Ruben Gallego
4th 56.0% 44.0% Greg Stanton
5th 42.4% 57.6% Andy Biggs
6th 51.5% 48.5% Ann Kirkpatrick (117th Congress)
Juan Ciscomani (118th Congress)
7th 66.4% 33.6% Raúl Grijalva
8th 44.1% 55.9% Debbie Lesko
9th 35.9% 64.1% Paul Gosar

Lawsuit over result

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Hamadeh filed a lawsuit regarding the result of the election. On December 20, judge Lee Jantzen of Mohave County Superior Court denied Kris Mayes' and Secretary of State Katie Hobbs' motion to dismiss and stated that Hamadeh "is not alleging political motives or fraud or personal agendas being pushed", but "is simply alleging misconduct by mistake, or omission by election officials, led to erroneous count of votes and which if true could have led to an uncertain result." Jantzen added that honest mistakes by officials could not be used to overturn an election. Kris Mayes' attorney repeatedly stated that the evidence brought forward by Hamadeh was not large enough to ever be accepted by the strict standards of election law.[45][46] Jantzen dismissed one count of the lawsuit, alleging that unverified early ballots were illegal votes.[45]

This allowed for Hamadeh's lawsuit to proceed to an evidentiary hearing, which was held on December 23, lasting for three hours, with the result being that Judge Jantzen, ruling from the bench, denied Hamadeh's election challenge.[47][48][49] Jantzen told Hamadeh's lawyer "you just haven't proven your case", with an absence of "even slight information" that "the election was done illegally or incorrectly." Jantzen declined to accept Hamadeh's lawyer's request to shift the vote margin as not being in the court's purview.[50] Hamadeh's lawyer acknowledged to the court that his findings were insufficient. Mayes' attorney stated he would request the court to sanction him over the frivolous nature of the lawsuit, stating that in 37 years of practice he had "never been involved in such a gigantic waste of time as this case".[51]

Hamadeh filed another lawsuit regarding the election result on January 4, 2023, after Mayes had already been sworn in as attorney general; the new lawsuit cited that the "recount results identified significant, material discrepancies" which were not known to the court during the previous lawsuit.[52] Judge Jantzen rejected this lawsuit in July 2023, writing that election laws "preclude issuing a new trial with extended discovery", and finding that there was no new evidence that could not have been previously produced at the original trial.[53] Hamadeh requested that the Arizona Supreme Court intervene in the lawsuit, but the Arizona Supreme Court responded that Hamadeh should follow the normal process to appeal to the Court of Appeals first, while further sanctioning Hamadeh and his legal team for having "misrepresented to this court that they had sought [a final judgment] when they had not done so".[54] The Arizona Supreme Court sanction involved Hamadeh being ordered to pay over $55,000 for Mayes and Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes' legal fees.[55]

Notes

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  1. ^ a b c Key:
    A – all adults
    RV – registered voters
    LV – likely voters
    V – unclear
  2. ^ "Refused" with 1%
  3. ^ "Some other candidate" with 1%
  4. ^ Severson (L/WI) with 4%; "Refused" with <1%
  5. ^ "Some other candidate" with 2%
Partisan clients
  1. ^ a b This poll was sponsored by Hamadeh's campaign
  2. ^ Poll conducted for Citizens United, a conservative non-profit organization.
  3. ^ Poll conducted for The Federalist, a conservative online magazine.
  4. ^ This poll was sponsored by End Citizens United and Let America Vote, who support Mayes
  5. ^ Poll sponsored by the Defend Students Action Fund

See also

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References

[edit]
  1. ^ "ARIZONA". State AG Elections. Retrieved October 6, 2020.
  2. ^ Jain, Lakshya; Gupta, Kavi (February 5, 2023). "Did Refusing The COVID-19 Vaccine Cost The GOP Any Elections?". Archived from the original on April 25, 2024. Retrieved April 10, 2024.
  3. ^ "Suspense mounts: Results of Arizona recounts delayed until next week". KTAR.com. December 22, 2022. Retrieved December 25, 2022.
  4. ^ "'We feel confident': Upbeat Kris Mayes leads by 510 votes as AG race heads to recount". AZCentral. Retrieved November 22, 2022.
  5. ^ Berzon, Alexandra (December 5, 2022). "Arizona Certifies Midterm Results After G.O.P. Resistance". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 6, 2022.
  6. ^ "Lacy Cooper running for attorney general". Retrieved December 18, 2022.
  7. ^ "Former prosecutor Lacy Cooper seeks GOP nomination for AG". Retrieved August 6, 2023.
  8. ^ Martillaro, Isabella. "Republican Rodney Glassman announces bid for Arizona attorney general". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved October 4, 2021.
  9. ^ "Arizona Supreme Court Justice Gould eyes run for attorney general". AZ Mirror.
  10. ^ a b c Barchenger, Stacey (September 8, 2021). "Dawn Grove, lawyer for family's PING golf empire, makes bid for Arizona attorney general". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved October 4, 2021.
  11. ^ Estrada, Melissa (November 20, 2021). "Who is running for Arizona attorney general? These are the major candidates in the race". The Arizona Republic. Gannett (published November 4, 2021). Archived from the original on November 22, 2021. Retrieved November 22, 2021.
  12. ^ "Republican Tiffany Shedd to run for Arizona attorney general". KTAR. April 12, 2021.
  13. ^ Stringer, David (February 15, 2022). "Glassman Picks up Key Local Endorsements". Prescott News. Retrieved June 7, 2022.
  14. ^ a b "Endorsements". Andy Gould for Attorney General. Retrieved July 16, 2022.
  15. ^ LaMaster, Lynne (March 29, 2022). "A Conversation with Andy Gould, Candidate for Attorney General". CopperState News. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
  16. ^ "Former Attorney General Robert Corbin Endorses Andy Gould For Arizona Attorney General". Arizona Legislative Report. May 26, 2021. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
  17. ^ a b c "Former President Trump endorses Abraham Hamadeh for Arizona Attorney General". KTAR-FM. June 14, 2022. Archived from the original on June 15, 2022. Retrieved June 15, 2022.
  18. ^ "The Powerful Primary Endorsement from Veterans for Trump and Veterans for America First". August 5, 2023. Retrieved August 6, 2023.
  19. ^ "2022 Candidates". www.maggieslist.org. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
  20. ^ a b c Arizona Secretary of State (August 22, 2022). "State of Arizona Official Canvass – August 2, 2022, Primary Election" (PDF). Retrieved August 26, 2022.
  21. ^ Latch, Lacey. "Kris Mayes, consumer advocate and attorney, enters Arizona's attorney general race". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved June 24, 2021.
  22. ^ "The Arizona Republic".
  23. ^ "Races for 2022 statewide offices taking shape". Arizona Capitol Times. May 21, 2021.
  24. ^ "House Dems head off retirement crisis – for now". Politico. Retrieved June 28, 2021.
  25. ^ a b "Equality Arizona Endorsements". Equality Arizona.
  26. ^ a b "LGBTQ Victory Fund Endorses 18 Candidates for 2022 Elections". www.victoryfund.org. LGBTQ Victory Fund. Retrieved November 29, 2021.
  27. ^ a b "Endorsements". prochoiceamerica.org. Retrieved July 25, 2022.
  28. ^ "Secretary of State and Attorney General: What to Watch for Next Week in Key Statewide Contests". Sabato's Crystal Ball. November 3, 2022. Retrieved November 3, 2022.
  29. ^ Solomon, Zack (November 7, 2022). "Elections Daily Secretary of State Ratings". Elections Daily. Retrieved November 29, 2022.
  30. ^ "Results of 2022 Election". ABC News. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
  31. ^ "2022 CWA Endorsed Candidates – Arizona". Communications Workers of America. Retrieved December 2, 2022.
  32. ^ "Arizona – COMPAC Endorsements". UMWA. Retrieved October 28, 2022.
  33. ^ "Human Rights Campaign Endorses Katie Hobbs for Governor of Arizona, Adrian Fontes for Secretary of State and a Slate of Pro-Equality, Pro-Democracy Legislative Candidates". Human Rights Campaign. August 19, 2022. Retrieved December 2, 2022.
  34. ^ a b c "2022 General Election Statewide Canvass" (PDF). Arizona Secretary of State. Retrieved December 5, 2022.
  35. ^ "Petition for Automatic Recount" (PDF). Arizona Secretary of State. Retrieved December 5, 2022.
  36. ^ "Arizona Sec. of State Katie Hobbs gets recount process started for 3 races". KTAR News. December 5, 2022. Retrieved December 7, 2022.
  37. ^ "Order to Conduct Recount" (PDF). Arizona Secretary of State. Retrieved December 5, 2022.
  38. ^ Brennan, Shane (November 17, 2022). "Tight elections for attorney general, schools superintendent could trigger automatic recounts". Cronkite News – Arizona PBS.
  39. ^ "2022 General Elections Recount Progress". Secretary of State. State of Arizona. Retrieved December 21, 2022.
  40. ^ Stone, Kevin (December 22, 2022). "Suspense mounts: Results of Arizona recounts delayed until next week". KTAR News. Bonneville International. Retrieved December 22, 2022.
  41. ^ Thomason, Timothy. "ORDER GRANTING MOTION TO CONTINUE HEARING FOR THE PRESENTATION OF RECOUNT RESULTS" (PDF). Arizona Secretary of State. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
  42. ^ "CV2022-015915: Order Regarding Recount Results". Maricopa County Superior Court. December 29, 2022. Retrieved December 29, 2022.
  43. ^ a b "General Election Statewide Recount Results" (PDF). Arizona Secretary of State. Retrieved December 29, 2022.
  44. ^ Results. docs.google.com (Report).
  45. ^ a b Kavaler, Tara (December 20, 2022). "Abe Hamadeh's challenge of Arizona attorney general election to go to trial". Arizona Republic. Retrieved December 21, 2022.
  46. ^ "Kentch v. Mayes – Court Order (Motion to Dismiss)" (PDF). Mohave County Superior Court. December 20, 2022. Retrieved December 24, 2022.
  47. ^ Gans, Jared (December 23, 2022). "Arizona judge dismisses GOP AG candidate's election challenge". The Hill. Retrieved December 26, 2022.
  48. ^ Kavaler, Tara (December 23, 2022). "Judge denies Abe Hamadeh's election challenge in Arizona attorney general race". Arizona Republic. Retrieved December 24, 2022.
  49. ^ "CV-2022-01468: Evidentiary Hearing Order" (PDF). Mohave County Superior Court. December 23, 2022. Retrieved December 29, 2022.
  50. ^ "Judge to Hamadeh: 'You just haven't proven your case'". tucson.com. December 23, 2022. Retrieved December 26, 2022.
  51. ^ Stanley-Becker, Isaac (December 23, 2022). "Judge rules against GOP candidate for Ariz. attorney general who sued to reverse results". Washington Post. Nash Holdings. Retrieved December 26, 2022.
  52. ^ "Abe Hamadeh files new lawsuit in Mohave County over election results". abc15.com. January 4, 2023. Retrieved August 3, 2023.
  53. ^ Riley, Kiera (July 17, 2023). "Judge who denied Hamadeh's motion for new trial explains decision". Arizona Capitol Times. Retrieved August 3, 2023.
  54. ^ Fischer, Howard (August 23, 2023). "Court refuses to take up Hamadeh's bid to overturn AG's race results". Arizona Capitol Times. Retrieved August 24, 2023.
  55. ^ Barchenger, Stacey (October 17, 2023). "Abe Hamadeh must pay attorneys fees to Kris Mayes and Adrian Fontes, Arizona top court says". Arizona Republic. Archived from the original on October 18, 2023. Retrieved October 24, 2023.
[edit]
Official campaign websites
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