Arizona Sec. of State Katie Hobbs gets recount process started for 3 races

PHOENIX — Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs got the state-mandated recount process started Monday by filing documents with the state court system.

Hobbs submitted the documents in Maricopa County Superior Court after certifying the election results at the statewide canvass earlier in the day. Gov. Doug Ducey, Attorney General Mark Brnovich and Arizona Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert Brutinel also participated in the canvass.

Two statewide races and one legislative race, including for attorney general and superintendent of public instruction, fell within the threshold of one-half of a percentage point to trigger an automatic recount under state law.

The race for attorney general had Democrat Kris Mayes leading Republican Abe Hamadeh by 510 votes out of more than 2.5 million cast (.02 percentage points), while Republican Tom Horne for superintendent of public instruction was leading Democrat Kathy Hoffman by 8,967 votes (.35 percentage points).

There’s also a recount for the second state House seat from Legislative District 13.

Though Democrat Jennifer Pawlik clinched a seat, Liz Harris finished ahead of fellow Republican Julie Willoughby by just 270 votes (.2 percentage points), within the recount threshold.

Arizona’s 15 counties are tasked with carrying out the recount on their automatic tabulating systems under the authority of their respective boards of supervisors.

They have until 5 p.m. on Dec. 21 to certify their recount results.

No results will be released until all the counting is done statewide and the totals are certified by the Maricopa County Superior Court.

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