Judge sanctions defeated GOP Arizona candidate over ‘groundless’ election claims

Defeated Arizona secretary of state candidate Mark Finchem, a Republican who refused to concede in his loss to his Democratic opponent, was sanctioned by a state judge over his lawsuit that challenged his loss last year.

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Melissa Julian said the suit brought forward by Finchem and his attorney was “groundless and not brought in good faith.”

The court ordered Finchem to pay the legal fees incurred by Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes and his office, who were challenged in court by Finchem when he sought to have the election results thrown out and ballots recast. In December, Julian rejected Finchem’s suit that alleged thousands of Republican voters were disenfranchised in the November elections.

The costs of those fees have not been determined.

Finchem alleged in his lawsuit that technical issues at polling locations in Maricopa County cost him about 200,000 votes in November. Although printer issues at around 70 polling locations in the county did mean that tabulation machines were unable to read ballots, election officials have maintained that everyone was still able to vote.

Julian said that even if everything that Finchem alleged in his lawsuit were true, it still would not have been enough to win him the election.

“Finchem’s expert report identified 80,000 potentially ‘missing votes,’” the ruling said. “Yet, Finchem lost the election he challenged by 120,208 votes. That margin was so significant that even if it were assumed that 80,000 votes were missing and that those votes would all have been cast in his favor, the result of the election would not have changed.”

The March 1 ruling from Julian hands yet another loss to a Republican candidate in Arizona who sought to fight the results of the 2022 elections.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake also launched an unsuccessful quest to challenge her loss to Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs (D), claiming state elections officials intentionally sabotaged her victory. An Arizona judge ruled against Lake in December.