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The race had gone to an automatic recount after the November
midterm election, as required by state law, because the vote
differential between the two candidates was within half a
percentage point.
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Timothy Thomason announced
the results in a hearing on Thursday, the court said. The final
vote count was 1,254,809 votes for Mayes and 1,254,529 for
Hamadeh.
The battle to become Arizona's next attorney general had smashed
fundraising records in the midterm elections, with election
experts having said that the normally backwater contest had
potentially big implications for U.S. democracy.
Arizona is a king-maker state in presidential elections. Under
Arizona law, the attorney general must witness the certification
of the election result, has the power to challenge
certifications in the courts if they violate state law, and must
approve the rule book that governs how elections are run.
Former President Donald Trump had endorsed Hamadeh, who
supported Trump's false claims that the 2020 election was stolen
from him by President Joe Biden.
Mayes welcomed the outcome of her race in a statement released
after the recount results were announced.
Hamadeh, one of a string of Trump-aligned Republican candidates
who lost battleground state races in the midterm elections, said
on Twitter he was weighing legal options.
"The outcome of this election is uncertain," he tweeted.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Colleen
Jenkins and David Gregorio)
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