Court Shifts Gears, Denies Hamadeh Expedited Hearing

October 5, 2023 ADI Staff Reporter
abe hamadeh
Abraham Hamadeh speaking with attendees at a rally hosted by EZAZ at Wesley Bolin Memorial Plaza at the Arizona State Capitol. [Photo by Gage Skidmore via Creative Commons/Wikimedia]

The Court of Appeals denied the motion for an expedited hearing submitted by Republican attorney general challenger Abe Hamadeh.

Judge David Gass denied the motion in an unsigned order issued on Wednesday, with no explanation provided.

The order came a little over a week after Hamadeh filed his motion.

Hamadeh questioned why Republican gubernatorial challenger Kari Lake was granted an expedited hearing, but not him.

“The closest race in Arizona history with the biggest recount discrepancy in history is getting delayed and the evidence is buried,” said Hamadeh.

Attorney General Kris Mayes was initially declared the election victor with a 500-odd vote lead. After a recount, that lead was slashed to just under 300 votes.

Hamadeh filed a motion for a new trial back in the first few days of January and issued briefings within the first week of February. It wasn’t until May that Hamadeh finally received oral arguments, and not until mid-July that the trial court denied Hamadeh’s motion, despite promises of a ruling within a few weeks.

The trial court denied Hamadeh’s motion for a new trial on the grounds that election contest statutes don’t qualify for due process. Denied an opportunity to present his evidence before the trial court, Hamadeh sought appellate relief.

Even then, the trial court failed to fulfill its duty in a timely manner, delaying finalization of the mid-July order until last month despite reprimand from the Arizona Supreme Court and the Arizona Court of Appeals.

This latest order from the court of appeals offers an apparent, unspoken message: there’s nothing to be done once an election is called for a candidate, regardless of any evidence the opposition presents.

At this rate, should Hamadeh ever get the chance to present his full evidentiary findings in court, Mayes may very well be halfway through her term.

Hamadeh alleges that many voters were disenfranchised in last years election, with over 9,000 of them constituting Election Day voters. Those who voted on Election Day were much more likely to be Republican voters.

It appears that Mayes has become comfortable with the fact that litigation may be ongoing for the near future, joking that she wouldn’t be called “landslide Mayes.”

Mayes’ demeanor may be due to the apparent fact that no judge so far has displayed interest in proceeding this case along in a timely or thorough manner.

 

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