AZ: Fontes, Mayes say Hamadeh should fork over more than $50k for his latest 2022 election challenge

Republican Abraham Hamadeh should be fined more than $50,000 for filing a groundless lawsuit to overturn his 2022 defeat, say Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes and Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, who were forced to go to court to defend the election results.

In December, Hamadeh filed a writ of quo warranto, hoping to convince a court that Mayes should be removed from office and that he should be installed as the state’s top attorney instead. The writ was the latest in a string of failed challenges pushed by Hamadeh since he lost the attorney general’s race by just 280 votes nearly two years ago.

Maricopa Superior Court Judge Susanna Pineda was unimpressed by the legal maneuver, which largely rehashed previously made arguments, and threw it out of court earlier this month. She levied sanctions against both Hamadeh and his attorney, Ryan Heath, and greenlit attorneys fees requests from defendants in the case.

Fontes quickly moved to request the repayment of $36,820 his office spent to mount a defense against the lawsuit, and on Monday Mayes added her own request seeking to recoup more than $16,600 in attorneys fees. Because Pineda authorized sanctions against Heath and Hamadeh, the two are also subject to a fine of up to $5,000, which, under Arizona law, is the punishment for filing a lawsuit without “substantial justification.”


https://azmirror.com/briefs/fontes-and-mayes-say-abe-hamadeh-should-fork-over-more-than-50k-for-his-latest-bid-to-overturn-the-2022-election/