Recount results for tight Arizona attorney general's race delayed until Dec. 29

Mary Jo Pitzl, Arizona Republic
·2 min read
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Ballots are processed on Nov. 10, 2022, at the Maricopa County Tabulation and Elections Center in Phoenix.
Ballots are processed on Nov. 10, 2022, at the Maricopa County Tabulation and Elections Center in Phoenix.
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Results of the automatic recount of three races from the Nov. 8 ballot have been postponed to next week to wait for the results of an election challenge in the state attorney general race.

That race, which concluded with Democrat Kris Mayes leading Republican Abe Hamadeh by 511 votes, or 0.03 percentage points, is still tied up in a court challenge. A trial is scheduled for Friday.

In addition, not all counties had returned results of their automatic recount, according to a motion filed Tuesday in Maricopa County Superior Court by Secretary of State Katie Hobbs' office. Pinal County was still conducting post-recount auditing and checking as of Saturday, Hobbs' office said. Once received, the secretary has to check the results and compile them in an official report.

Judge Timothy Thomason reset the recount announcement for 10 a.m. Dec. 29.

In addition to the AG race, the state's new automatic recount law affected the race for state school superintendent and a legislative seat in the southeast Valley. The law requires any race where the winner has a lead of 0.5% or less must be retabulated. The previous standard was 0.1%.

Legislators changed the law this year in the wake of the 2020 presidential election, which showed Joe Biden won Arizona by about 0.3 percentage points.

In the school superintendent race, challenger Tom Horne, a Republican, bested incumbent Democrat Kathy Hoffman by 0.36 percentage points.

In Legislative District 13 in Chandler, Republican Liz Harris edged fellow Republican Julie Willoughby by 0.4 percentage points in a race for the second House of Representatives seat representing the district.

Democrat Jennifer Pawlik won the first House seat by a margin that far exceeded the 0.5% that would automatically trigger a recount.

Reach the reporter at maryjo.pitzl@arizonarepublic.com and follow her on Twitter @maryjpitzl.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: AZ attorney general recount report delayed by challenge, late results