Arizona Republican gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake announced Monday that her team will have experienced attorney Harmeet Dhillon lead the campaign’s legal efforts on election day.
“I will never stop fighting for free, fair, and honest elections, and I’m bringing in the big guns to help me do it,” Kari Lake said in a statement emailed to reporters. “Harmeet Dhillon is a talented, experienced, and relentless lawyer who is just as committed as I am to protecting the integrity of our election, rooting out fraud, and ensuring that every single Arizonans’ voice is fairly heard. I’m thrilled she will be leading our campaign’s legal efforts on Election Day to fight for that commitment. Next week’s election will be one that ALL Arizonans can be proud of!”
Lake’s campaign mentioned that Dhillon would attempt to ensure every vote is fairly counted and combat issues like voter suppression but did not say if the campaign already has legal actions planned for Dhillon.
Lake shared that Dhillon has served as Chair of the Republican National Lawyers Association, the Republican National Committee (RNC) Committeewoman for California, and Western Regional Chairwoman of the RNC. She is also the co-founder of Dhillon Law Group Inc. Her focus is on commercial litigation, employment law, First Amendment Rights, and election laws.
Notably, Dhillon is involved in the Arizona parent’s lawsuit against the Scottsdale Unified School District (SUSD). The case began in May against board member Jann-Michael Greenburg for compiling a 100-gigabyte dossier with information on district parents and families in an alleged effort to intimate and silence them.
One controversy currently facing the Arizona midterm election is the proposed Cochise County hand count. As reported by the Arizona Sun Times, the Cochise County Board of Supervisors (CCBOS) recently voted two-to-one to conduct a complete hand count of the November 8th election, in addition to using electronic tabulation machines to ensure the vote is correct. However, the CCBOS was hit by immediate backlash as Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs (D) threatened to take legal action against the county if they continued, alleging that Arizona law does not have a precedent for a total hand count.
Cochise County plans to vote to hand count every single race on every single ballot—w/ Election Day just 18 days away & early voting already started. That’s illegal & risks the integrity & accuracy of the election. I’ve warned them: If they proceed, I’ll take legal action. ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/mqJN3KzpCa
— Governor Katie Hobbs (@GovernorHobbs) October 21, 2022
Yet, Lake was on board with the county’s decision and said they had the right to make it.
“Secretary of State Katie Hobbs has once again demonstrated her failure to grasp the basics of election laws in Arizona and her arrogance toward local officials who are trying to restore faith and confidence in our elections. Despite what Katie Hobbs threatens, the Cochise County Board of Supervisors has every right, as they have just voted to do, to expand the statutory hand count,” Lake said in a statement emailed to reporters. ” It’s embarrassing that Katie Hobbs is threatening to take legal action. If she chooses to do so, she will fare just as poorly as she did in Talonya Adams’ successful racial and sexual discrimination lawsuit against her.”
However, the CCBOS seemingly rolled back their decision from a full hand count of every ballot to a partial count. That is until Attorney General Mark Brovich’s (R) Office released an opinion stating the county could conduct a 100 percent hand count. AZ Central reported that the county has chosen to go forward with the total hand count, although it would only be conducted for four randomly chosen races. Hobbs still objects and the threat of a lawsuit remains.
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Neil Jones is a reporter for The Arizona Sun Times and The Star News Network. Follow Neil on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Harmeet Dhillon” by Harmeet Dhillon. Photo “Kari Lake” by Gage Skidmore. CC BY-SA 2.0. Background Photo “Arizona State Capitol” by Hoozdoh. CC BY-SA 3.0.
