Saudi Company Officially Stops Using Arizona Water

Farming

The Saudi Arabian-backed company Fondomonte Arizona is officially no longer using the state’s water resources. 

According to the governor’s office, the State Land Department inspected the company’s land leases in western Arizona’s Butler Valley on Feb. 15, which determined that it was no longer irrigating. The company was estimated to have pumped over 5.3 billion gallons of groundwater in 2022, according to Arizona’s Family. 

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Censorship Concerns Rise over State and Local Governments Registering Their Domain Names with CISA

Pinal County’s website, Maricopa County’s website, and other government websites across the country recently switched their registrars from the federal government’s General Services Administration to a new registrar started by the federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).

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Native American Nation Will Not Allow National Guard Troops Along Their Part of Border

Arizona National Guard

Even though Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs ordered National Guard troops to the southern border on Friday, not everyone in the region is on board.

The Tohono Oʼodham Nation, which is a Native American nation that touches parts of the southern border in the Tucson Sector, wrote in a letter that they do not want troops along their portion of the border.

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Arizona Gov. Hobbs in Touch with DHS but Hasn’t Talked with Mayorkas in Months

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs recently communicated with leadership at the United States Department of Homeland Security, but conversations with Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas have been more scant.

The federal government, as well as Arizona officials, have been under scrutiny after U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced the closure of the Lukeville, Arizona, port of entry, which is making access to and from Puerto Peñasco, Mexico, extremely difficult. 

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Arizona Ends Contract with Private Prison, Saying It Will Save $15 Million

The state of Arizona ended its contract with a company that operated a correctional facility in Marana.

Gov. Katie Hobbs praised the move of the Arizona Department of Corrections Rehabilitation and Reentry, arguing that it will save roughly $15 million — $5 million in fiscal year 2024 and $10 million in fiscal year 2025, according to the news release.

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Independent Audit by Arizona Election Integrity Group Says Hundreds of Provisional Ballots from Republicans Remain Uncounted: ‘Abe Hamadeh Won the Attorney General’s Race’

We the People AZ Alliance (WPAA), a leading election integrity group in Arizona, has been looking into ballots that were not counted in Arizona’s 2022 election. Co-founder Shelby Busch issued a video last week revealing that the group found hundreds of instances involving people who said they voted for Abe Hamadeh but their ballots were not counted – more than the 280 votes he lost the attorney general’s race by. However, Busch told The Arizona Sun Times that the courts refuse to consider the new evidence.

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Arizona Gov. Hobbs Appoints Farmer to Water Policy Council After Recent Exits

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs appointed Ed Curry to the Water Policy Council on Thursday following recent departures from the group.

Curry is a farmer and president of Curry Seed and Chile Company in southern Arizona, which has helped pave the way for chile farming in the United States.

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Arizona Gov. Hobbs Allocates $2.3 Million in Federal Funding Toward Elections

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs is allocating $2.3 million in funds from the American Rescue Plan Act in order to support state elections ahead of 2024.

In addition, the governor issued three Executive Orders pertaining to elections on Thursday. One will allow state employees to take time off as paid leave in order to be poll workers, one prompting “state agencies to provide voter registration information and assistance” to Arizonans, and another allowing state government buildings to be used as voting locations. 

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Arizona Rises in State Business Tax Climate Rankings

Arizona’s business tax climate is moving up the ranks in comparison to other states, according to a new report from the Tax Foundation. 

The state lies at No. 14 in 2024 after previously being at No. 19 in the index, and the organization credits this to changes to the income tax signed into law by former Republican Gov. Doug Ducey.

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Kari Lake Files Bar Complaint Against Hobbs’ Attorney in Election Lawsuit over Statements Regarding Her U.S. Senate Race Announcement

Kari Lake filed a bar complaint against Katie Hobbs’ attorney, Alexis Danneman of Perkins Coie, on Monday over “false statements” Danneman may have made regarding Lake’s announcement that she was running for U.S. Senate. Danneman, who is representing Hobbs in Lake’s lawsuit challenging Hobbs’ gubernatorial win over Lake, sent Lake’s attorneys an email last week stating that she had violated the state’s resign to run laws and must drop her election challenge.

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Arizona Gov. Hobbs Cancels Saudi Land Deal Allowing Outsized Water Use

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs has canceled a deal giving a subsidiary of a Saudi Arabian company free groundwater to grow cattle feed and send it back to the Middle East amid prolonged drought in the Southwest.

The lease in question was a State Land Department deal in La Paz County signed before Hobbs was in office that didn’t reflect unlimited rights to the water under the surface. The company used the state land to grow alfalfa, a water-intensive crop, and ship it back to the Middle East to feed cattle. Saudi Arabia mostly banned the growing of alfalfa in 2018 due to the water necessary to raise the crop.

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Hobbs Doubles Down on Biden’s Border Problem, Sends $10 Million to Nogales

Arizona taxpayers are giving $10 million to the Nogales Police Department as concerns about ports of entry mount.

Gov. Katie Hobbs announced the decision Friday to help the border community buy “communications technology” to bolster its border efforts following changes in the federal port of entry policies.

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Conservative Firebrand Kari Lake Plans to Serve as a Surrogate for Trump at Wednesday’s GOP Presidential Candidates’ Debate

Arizona Republican Gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake will be in attendance at Wednesday’s first Republican presidential candidates’ debate in Milwaukee, and she plans to speak up for an absent former President Donald Trump.

Lake, a close Trump ally, tells The Star News Network that she will do everything in her power to return the former president to the White House.

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Arizona Legislative Leadership Threatens Litigation Against Secretary of State Fontes over Draft Changes to Election Procedures Manual

Every two years, the Arizona Secretary of State is required by law to update the state’s Election Procedures Manual (EPM), but similarly to what happened in 2021, the process is not going smoothly. After reviewing the proposed changes Secretary of State Adrian Fontes suggested making to the EPM, State Senate President Warren Petersen (R-Mesa), accompanied by Speaker of the House Ben Toma (R-Peoria), issued a statement on Monday threatening legal action.

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Emails Reveal Katie Hobbs While Secretary of State Pressured Twitter and Facebook to Censor Her GOP Opponents

Newly released emails reveal that Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs, while serving as secretary of state overseeing elections, had her staff pressure social media companies to censor posts by her Republican opponents under the guise of “misinformation.” Her targets included the Arizona Republican Party and former conservative powerhouse legislator Kelly Townsend.

The AZGOP responded in a tweet, “EXPOSED: @GovernorHobbs has relentlessly censored major entities, including the Arizona Republican Party. Shocked? We’re not. It’s time for transparency and accountability. This goes beyond politics—it’s a matter of principle.”

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Gov. Hobbs Unsure About Canceling Saudi Company’s Arizona Alfalfa Farm Despite Ties to Campaign

Governor Katie Hobbs said canceling state leases to a Fondomonte, a foreign company that grows water-hungry alfalfa for export to Saudi Arabia to feed cattle, was complex, asserting that some have asked Arizona to “unilaterally yank one lease” while allowing other, similar leases to continue in a recent interview. The governor did not comment on her campaign’s connection to Fondomonte, but gave detailed reasons why terminating the lease would be a complicated issue.

Hobbs stressed that ending the lease to Fondomonte is complicated because, “It would be treating one leaseholder differently than others,” in an interview with The Arizona Republic. Hobbs continued, “We can’t just unilaterally yank one lease because we don’t like that alfalfa’s going to Saudi Arabia.”

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Saudi Company Draining Arizona’s Water Hires Business Partner of Hobbs’ Top Campaign Advisor as Lobbyist, Who Quits After Uproar

Saudi Arabian company Fondomonte has come under fire recently for using large amounts of water in Arizona for its alfalfa farms, obtained through a very inexpensive land lease. Despite the outraged responses, a lobbying firm connected to Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs signed a contract representing the company two months ago — which suddenly ended, likely due to the negative publicity. Hobbs has a mixed record on allowing Fontomonte to continue draining Arizona’s water.

Kari Lake tweeted on July 27, “A Saudi Arabian company has been exporting Arizona water overseas despite our historic drought. They just hired the business partner of @katiehobbs’ TOP campaign adviser to lobby for them. This is corruption in broad daylight. Hobbs is selling Arizona out to the highest bidder. And I will fight like hell to stop her.” 

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Republicans Working with Hobbs to Extend Prop. 400 Public Transportation Sales Tax

Phoenix Lightrail

Every few years, the Arizona Legislature works out legislation to extend the Prop. 400 public transportation tax. The half-cent tax, which started in 1985 to pay for roads but now also includes public transit and light rail in Maricopa County, faces strong opposition every time it comes up for renewal. Although the legislature mostly ended its 2023 session on June 30 after finalizing the budget, it is reconvening briefly next week to consider the extension.

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Verity Vote Issues Report on Numerous Chain-of-Custody Problems by Maricopa County During 2022 Election

Maricopa County failed to maintain chain-of-custody records for hundreds of thousands of early ballots dropped off at third-party contractor Runbeck Election Services, and a new report is out analyzing the extent of the illegal behavior, which is a class 2 misdemeanor. Election integrity organization Verity Vote issued its analysis last week.

The report observed that then-Secretary of State Katie Hobbs admonished Cochise County prior to the 2022 election about deviating from the state’s Election Procedures Manual. Yet “just one month later, Hobbs chose to disregard Maricopa County’s admitted deviations from the EPM and violations of law as she oversaw and certified her own election.” Verity Vote asserted that documents “long withheld” were finally produced revealing the lack of chain of custody, and “Maricopa officials misled the court about the process and the records.”

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State Senator Justine Wadsack Warns Governor Hobbs ‘Unwilling’ to Address Homeless as ‘The Zone’ Persists

State Senator Justine Wadsack (R-Tucson) blamed Arizona Democrats, namely Governor Katie Hobbs, for the continuing Arizona homeless crisis, even as Phoenix’s “The Zone” continues to persist months after court ordered the city to clear the camp.

In a statement to The Arizona Sun Times, Wadsack warned Democrats are “unwilling to work across the aisle” to address the homeless crisis. “I have personally witnessed the human tragedies that occur in ‘The Zone,’ every day when I’m leaving the Capitol. We have the same issues in Southern Arizona.” Wadsack added, “I’ve personally spoken to those affected by homelessness and creating real solutions that start immediately will be a top priority for me in 2024.”

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Judge Denies Abe Hamadeh’s Request for a New Trial, Says Only ‘Six Votes’ Would Have Been Different

Mohave County Superior Court Judge Lee F. Jantzen denied Abe Hamadeh’s request for a new trial in his election contest over the attorney general’s race on Friday, issuing his opinion with the reasoning on Monday. He said “the evidence showed that only about six votes difference would have been found after reviewing the numerous undercounted ballots.”

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Judge Denies Abe Hamadeh’s Request for a New Trial Despite 280-Vote Difference

Almost two months after hearing oral arguments to determine whether Abe Hamadeh should be awarded a new trial in his election contest, Mohave County Superior Court Judge Lee F. Jantzen denied the request on Friday. Hamadeh’s legal team had requested the retrial based on discovering evidence that was withheld from them during the first trial; “undervotes” discovered in Pinal County that were erroneously not counted. The new votes shrunk Kris Mayes’ lead to only 280 votes. It is the closest statewide race in Arizona history. 

Jantzen said in the short ruling that he will be issuing his full reasoning behind the decision on Monday by noon, stating that it was a “close call in a close contest.” Hamadeh responded in a statement, “[W]e believe the situation is very simple: the contest was not as close as it stands now. If all legal votes are counted, I win this race for attorney general.”

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Arizona House Speaker, Senate President File Brief to Stop Hobbs’ Taxpayer Funded Child Gender Surgeries

Arizona House Speaker Ben Toma (R-Peoria) and Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen (R-Mesa) filed an amicus brief on Monday, asking a federal court to align Governor Katie Hobbs’ executive order, which forces government agencies to pay for the gender reassignment surgeries of employees, with a state law banning minors from receiving such treatments.

The amicus brief was filed in Toomey v. State of Arizona, a lawsuit launched in 2019 on behalf of Russell Toomey, an associate professor at the University of Arizona who is transgender, by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). It alleged that Arizona violated federal civil rights statutes and the U.S. Constitution because it “unlawfully discriminates against transgender people” by refusing to pay for “gender-affirming surgery”.

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Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs Finalizes Expansion of Birth Control Access

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs announced increased access to contraceptives Thursday. 

According to the governor’s office, the “standing order” will allow adults to pick up contraceptives at a pharmacy without a doctor’s prescription. However, those wanting to obtain them will need to get a “screening and blood pressure test” as safeguards.

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Arizona Secretary of State Subpoenaed in Jack Smith’s Trump Probe

Special counsel Jack Smith expanded his Trump probe to Arizona by sending two subpoenas to the Arizona Secretary of State requesting information about 2020 election lawsuits filed by Republicans.

Smith, who so far has brought 37 charges against the former president, issued two subpoenas requesting documents from one election lawsuit brought by Trump’s campaign, and a second by former Arizona Republican Party Chair Kelli Ward.

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Arizona GOP Legislative District 3 Declares July ‘Pride in America’ Month

A large majority of Republican Party officials in a Maricopa County-area legislative district voted to declare the month of July “Pride in America Month.” The June 29th move comes at the close of a contentious “Pride Month” recognizing the LGBTQ+ community.

In all, two-thirds of the precinct committeemen (PCs) in Arizona’s Republican Legislative District 3 (LD3) voted to pass the resolution.

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Arizona State House Speaker Asks Governor Hobbs to Rescind ‘Unintelligible’ LGBTQ Executive Order

Arizona State House Speaker Ben Toma (R-Peoria) has sent a letter to Governor Katie Hobbs calling on her office to rescind a recent executive order banning so-called “conversion therapy” for LGBTQ individuals and youth, calling it “unconstitutional.”

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Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs Announced New Funding to Support Border Security

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs announced new funding to support law enforcement on border security issues Friday.

Hobbs, Yavapai County Sheriff David Rhodes, and Prescott Valley Police Department Chief Bob Ticer said that $1.5 million would be allocated to Yavapai County law enforcement agencies to assist mainly with combating drug and human trafficking.

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Arizona Gov. Hobbs’ Transgender Healthcare Coverage Sparks Controversy

Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs signed two executive orders on June 27, giving additional protections to the state’s LGBTQ residents.

The first order, Executive Order 2023-12, establishes that any “medically necessary” gender reassignment surgeries for state employees will be paid for through their health care coverage. The second, Executive Order 2023-13, bars any state agencies from funding, promoting or supporting conversion therapy for minors.

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Arizona Senate Republicans Cancel Scheduled Hearing to Immediately Focus on Governor Hobbs’ ‘Unconstitutional’ Executive Order on Abortions

Arizona Senate Republicans have announced the cancellation of a Senate Committee on Director Nominations hearing on Tuesday in order to better focus on and determine Governor Katie Hobbs’ “future intentions to further act beyond her authority” amid her recent enactment of an executive order regarding abortions.

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Hobbs Vetoes Ban on ESG Investments in Arizona

Gov. Katie Hobbs has used her well-worn veto stamp on a bill that would have banned public investment funds in Arizona to do so through the lens of environmental, social and governance, or ESG, investing practices.

Hobbs vetoed Senate Bill 1500 on June 16. If enacted, it would have required the state treasurer to list all state investments by name on a public site so that all investments might be made “in the sole interest of the beneficiary taxpayer.”

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Arizona’s Half-Cent Sales Tax for Infrastructure Could Expire amid Gridlock

Proposition 400, a statewide sales tax set aside for local infrastructure projects, will expire in 2025 unless either lawmakers opposed to it and Gov. Katie Hobbs can agree on an extension or local leaders go around them and ask voters to approve it.

The Republican-led Legislature sent Hobbs a version of the sales tax originally approved in 1985 that restricts ways the tax dollars can be spent, including money going toward expanding the valley’s polarizing light rail line. 

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Arizona Gov. Hobbs Withdraws Nomination of Progressive Former Lawmaker

Gov. Katie Hobbs has officially withdrawn her nomination of former Sen. Martín Quezada, D-Maryvale, to a cabinet position.

State Senate President Warren Petersen received a letter from Hobbs on June 12 stating that Quezada would be removed, effective immediately. The letter was sent after the Senate Committee on Director Nominations voted 3-2 along party lines not to approve his position as Director of the Arizona Registrar of Contractors.

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Arizona Gov. Hobbs Vetoes Homeless Crackdown Bill, Six Others in One Day

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoed Senate Bill 1413, a bill that would have made homeless encampments on private property trespassing.

The bill would have also allowed cities to remove homeless encampments’ property if after a warning they are not claimed within 24 hours. If not claimed within 14 days, the property would be destroyed. Counties and municipalities would be required to clean the area.

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Arizona’s Fastest-Growing City Not Worried About New Water Restrictions

Phoenix

Despite warnings about water shortages and a new edict from the state, one of the fastest-growing cities in the nation says the new rule won’t have a significant effect on its future.

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs announced last week the latest results of the state’s 100-year groundwater research. Most notably, it found the Phoenix area would fall short of the demand for water by 4% if nothing is done. 

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Hobbs’ Claim That Ducey Administration Misappropriated Funds to Kindergarteners Criticized by Arizona Republicans and Education Advocates

Several leaders and education advocates are denouncing Governor Katie Hobbs’ reversal of funding Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) for kindergarten. Hobbs reversed the grant of $50 million in funding from the American Rescue Plan Act last week, which previous Governor Doug Ducey awarded for private school students to use.

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Arizona Gov. Hobbs Vetoes Rio Verde Foothills Water Legislation

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs has used her well-inked veto stamp on legislation that would have required Scottsdale to provide water for a nearby town that’s been dry since 2022. 

Hobbs vetoed House Bill 2441 on Monday. Had she signed it, the new law would have required Scottsdale to sell residents of the nearby town of Rio Verde Foothills water at a set rate. Hobbs said the Legislature sent her the wrong bill. 

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Kari Lake Announces Ballot Chasing Operation in Arizona, Plans to Go to SCOTUS with Election Case

Former GOP Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake announces the launch of a ballot chasing operation in Arizona. “We are officially launching the largest, most extensive ballot chasing operation in our state’s history and frankly, possibly in American history,” Lake said during a press conference. “The courts just ruled that this corrupt election will stand. The courts just ruled that our elections can run lawlessly. The courts have ruled that anything goes. Well, we can play by those same rules.”

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Gov. Hobbs Announces ‘Humanitarian’ Plan to Accommodate Illegal Immigrants as Title 42 Ends

The federal government lifted Title 42 restrictions on the border Thursday, prompting Arizona and other border states to take action to deal with the surge of illegal immigrants beginning to pour over the U.S.’s southern border with Mexico. Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs held a press conference on Monday to announce the plans her administration made to handle the surge, which consist of assisting the migrants, not turning them back to Mexico. 

Merissa Hamilton, head of EZAZ and a former candidate for mayor of Phoenix, live tweeted the press conference, expressing her dismay. “Her law enforcement spokespeople say it’s a humanitarian issue ONLY,” she said. 

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Arizona Supreme Court Declines to Sanction Kari Lake’s Attorneys, Issues Fine

The Arizona Supreme Court declined to award significant sanctions against Kari Lake’s attorneys for contesting the election results of the gubernatorial race. Instead, on Thursday the court ordered $2,000 in sanctions against her attorneys for asserting it was an “undisputed fact” that 35,563 ballots were inserted into the ballot counting process at Runbeck Election Systems. The court declined to award attorneys fees to her opponents.

The Arizona Supreme Court said in its opinion that Lake “repeatedly” asserted in pleadings that 35,563 ballots were “added” or “injected” at Runbeck. “Not only is that allegation strongly disputed by the other parties, this Court concluded and expressly stated that the assertion was unsupported by the record, and nothing in Lake’s Motion for Leave to file a motion for reconsideration provides reason to revisit that issue.”

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Hobbs Won’t List Potential Compromises But Says Budget Is ‘Very Close’

Republican state legislators and Gov. Katie Hobbs are apparently “very close” to putting forth a bipartisan budget proposal, the governor said Wednesday.

Hobbs has been at odds with the state Legislature’s majority since taking office in January, as she’s vetoed 48 bills so far this session.

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After Abe Hamadeh Files New Pleading in Request for Retrial Alleging Hobbs Withheld Evidence, Judge Grants Oral Arguments

Mohave County Superior Court Judge Lee Jantzen scheduled oral arguments for May 16 on whether Abe Hamadeh should get a new trial.

Jantzen dismissed his complaint challenging his loss to Kris Mayes for Arizona Attorney General in December. Jantzen’s ruling came shortly after Hamadeh filed an additional pleading to bolster his request, which accused then-Secretary of State Katie Hobbs of withholding evidence from him and cited new arguments due to the Arizona Supreme Court’s ruling in Kari Lake’s election contest.

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