PHOENIX — Mark Finchem, the Republican candidate for Secretary of State in Arizona's 2022 mid-term election, has been sanctioned and ordered to pay attorney fees in connection to a dismissed election lawsuit last year.
A counter-lawsuit was filed in December 2022 by Secretary of State-Elect Adrian Fontes and joined by then-Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, asking the court for sanctions against Finchem in the form of attorney's fees and damages after he attempted to challenge the election results in court.
A judge dismissed Finchem's lawsuit in December and confirmed the election of Adrian Fontes as Arizona Secretary of State-Elect. That lawsuit focused on issues in the 2022 election, as well as the fact that Secretary of State Katie Hobbs did not recuse herself despite the fact she was running for governor.
On Monday, the court ruled in Fontes' favor stating: "None of Contestant Finchem’s allegations, even if true, would have changed the vote count enough to overcome the 120,000 votes he needed to affect the result of this election. The Court finds that this lawsuit was groundless and not brought in good faith."
It's unclear how much Finchem and his counsel will pay, but court filings state, in Arizona, “in any civil action commenced … in a court of record in this state, the court shall assess reasonable attorney fees, expenses and, at the court’s discretion, double damages of not to exceed five thousand dollars against an attorney or party… if the attorney or party... [b]rings or defends a claim without substantial justification,”
