Mohave County Superior Court Judge Lee F. Jantzen is retiring after 17 years in office.
The legacy of his nearly two decades in the court has come to be defined by a recent high-profile case: now-Rep. Abe Hamadeh’s challenge of the 2022 attorney general election outcome.
The governor’s office issued a notice of Jantzen’s retirement on Wednesday; Jantzen held the Division 4 seat.
Judge Jantzen’s mishandling of Hamadeh’s case left Arizonans with a lack of resolution concerning the alleged thousands of disenfranchised voters.
Now-Attorney General Kris Mayes was declared the winner of the contest by less than 300 votes, the final tally following the statewide recount which represented a halving of the original slim margin of victory attributed to Mayes.
Jantzen granted a half-day trial to Hamadeh in the weeks after the 2022 election, ruling based on the limited evidence Hamadeh could provide in the narrow window that the election was executed legally and correctly.
Jantzen also denied further ballot examination across Maricopa, Pima, and Navajo counties, ruling that election contests require quick resolution. Jantzen then refused to award Hamadeh a new trial to present newly discovered evidence.
Hamadeh maintains that evidence of his victory over Mayes concerned the disenfranchisement of thousands of voters.
Then, after rejecting Hamadeh’s case, Jantzen committed delays that ultimately frustrated Hamadeh’s efforts to appeal.
For months, Jantzen effectively denied Hamadeh his right to appeal by failing to sign off on two judgments. Jantzen further delayed this right to appeal after he mistakenly left matters pending in the case.
Failed deadlines weren’t unusual for Jantzen.
Jantzen had a history of missing deadlines leading up to Hamadeh’s case — and had been punished for it.
In 2018 the Arizona Supreme Court censured Jantzen for office misconduct for falsely signing statements certifying he had no matters outstanding for more than 60 days. In truth, Jantzen missed a 60-day deadline by over a year in one case.
Jantzen received another, similar reprimand for deadline tardiness in 2021.
Mohave County residents told The Arizona Daily Independent in the fall of 2023 that Judge Jantzen’s missteps “embarrassed and frustrated” them.
“Residents are concerned about Judge Jantzen’s history of malfeasance and how his conduct in this case could indicate issues with other more routine cases that he presides over,” said the residents.
Adding to voter frustrations over Jantzen’s handling of critical election contests was his ruling against the Arizona GOP’s effort to stop no-excuse mail voting leading up to the 2022 election.
Following Jantzen’s mishandling of Hamadeh’s case, last fall the congressman’s campaign issued a call to action to Mohave County attorneys to run against Jantzen in the 2026 election.
Only one individual has filed a statement of interest for Jantzen’s seat.
A commissioner court judge for Mohave County, Aaron Demke, filed a statement of interest as a Republican for the District 4 seat. Prior to his appointment to the bench in 2021, Demke was the county’s legal advocate director dating back to 2016.
By the time the Hamadeh campaign issued its call to action, Jantzen had already floated the possibility of retiring by April 2026, as reported by Havasu News last June.
Wednesday’s announcement clarified Gov. Katie Hobbs would appoint a replacement to fulfill the remainder of Jantzen’s term this year. The public may observe initial interviews with the governor’s office staff: the dates, times, and locations of these interviews will be posted on the governor’s Boards and Commissions webpage.
Jantzen was last reelected to the bench in 2022. He was first appointed to the court by the former governor, Jan Brewer, in 2009 and elected to a full term in 2010.
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