Arizona AG Mayes “Fake Electors” Case Comes to SaddleBrooke

SBINSIDER NEWS\OPINION DOUGLAS WOLF| October 5th, 2025

The fallout from Presidential election of 2020 is not going away anytime soon. It still bothers President Trump as he has never wavered from his public belief that the election was stolen via massive mail-in fraudulent votes. Despite multiple lawsuits and millions of dollars spent on lawyers, no court was able to take the evidence presented and move forward into discovery and then a trial. All were dismissed early in the process. As part of the Democrat reaction, several states, including Arizona, choose a slate of electors reflecting the belief that Arizonans had delivered a majority for Trump. They went through the same process for certification as was used by the actual electors that represented Arizona to the Congress.

As we know, Biden was duly sworn into office and Arizona elected a Democrat as Governor, Attorney General and Secretary of State and a new US Senator in Ruben Gallego. Attorney General Mayes decided lawfare was due on the fake electors and indicted the following for felonies:

Nancy Cottle: Cottle is the first vice president of programs for the Arizona Federation of Republican Women. She has been active in Arizona politics for the past decade and holds various other positions on the Maricopa County Republican Committee and the AZGOP executive committee.

Loraine B. Pellegrino: Pellegrino has served as president of Ahwatukee Republican Women.

Tyler Bowyer: Bowyer is the chief operating officer of Turning Point USA, a Phoenix-based nonprofit organization that advocates for conservative values in schools. He has previously worked for the Republican National Committee and the Maricopa County Republican Party.

Jake Hoffman: Hoffman is an Arizona state representative for the 12th District. Hoffman also runs a conservative digital marketing company, Rally Forge.

Anthony T. Kern: From January 2015 until January 2021, Kern was an Arizona state representative for the 20th District. He is currently running for election to the Arizona state Senate to represent the 20th District.

James Lamon: Lamon ran for election to the U.S. Senate to represent Arizona.

Robert Montgomery: In 2020, Montgomery served as the chairman of the Cochise County Republican Committee.

Samuel I. Moorhead: Moorhead serves as the second vice chair of the Gila County Arizona Republican Party.

Greg Safsten: Safsten is the executive director of the Republican Party of Arizona. He previously worked for Rep. Andy Biggs and Rep. Matt Salmon, both of Arizona, in their U.S. House offices, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Dr. Kelli Ward: Ward is an osteopathic physician who has served as the chair of the Arizona Republican Party since 2019. Following the 2020 election, Ward aided Trump’s efforts to invalidate the election results and filed a number of lawsuits to nullify Arizona’s results. In 2016, she challenged the late U.S. Sen. John McCain in the Republican primary but lost with 39 percent of the vote. She previously served in the Arizona state Senate.

Dr. Michael Ward:Ward met his wife, Kelli Ward, while he was serving in the Arizona Air National Guard.

After the indictments, the wheels of justice went to work, with this timeline to date:

In April 2024, a grand jury indicted 18 people involved in the scheme, including all 11 fake electors. Others indicted include prominent figures such as former Trump attorneys Rudy Giuliani and Christina Bobb, and former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows.
Case status: In May 2025, a Maricopa County Superior Court judge ruled that prosecutors must present the case to a grand jury again. The judge determined that the grand jurors who issued the initial indictments were not fully informed about the Electoral Count Act of 1887.
Recent legal setbacks: In late September 2025, the Arizona Court of Appeals declined to hear Attorney General Mayes’s appeal of the lower court’s ruling. This decision sent the case back to a grand jury, marking another setback for the prosecution.

Most legal experts have opined that the last decisions in court have doomed any further filings by AG Mayes.

For SaddleBrooke, residents have the opportunity to ask her directly as she will be in SaddleBrooke at Desert View PA to present ideas for protecting yourself against “elder scams.

Per the HOA announcement:

AZ Attorney General Town Hall

Dear Resident,
We are pleased to announce that Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes will be visiting SaddleBrooke for an important Elder Scams Town Hall on:
Monday, October 20, 2025
🕚 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM

📍 DesertView Performing Arts Center (DVPAC)

This free community event will provide valuable information on how to recognize, avoid, and report scams that target older adults.

Topics will include:

Common scams impacting Arizona residents
New threats such as AI voice-cloning “grandparent scams” and online romance scams
Practical tips to protect your finances and identity
Resources available through the Attorney General’s Office

It is unlikely that any government scams will be covered, unless someone in the audience asks about her “fake electors” lawsuits….

This program is proudly sponsored by the SaddleBrooke Public Affairs Commission.