PHOENIX (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to toss out $122,000 in legal costs that lawyers for former Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake were ordered to pay for false and misleading statements they made in a lawsuit that sought to require a hand-count of all ballots in the 2022 midterm elections.
The nation’s highest court on Tuesday denied a request from Andrew D. Parker, an attorney who represented Lake in the lawsuit, to review a lower-court decision over the legal costs arising from the unsuccessful litigation.
The lawsuit by Lake and state lawmaker Mark Finchem sought to ban electronic tabulation devices. It was dismissed by a judge who found Lake and Finchem lacked standing to sue and that their lawsuit was filed too close to the election.
In 2022, Lake lost the governor’s race to Democrat Katie Hobbs and Finchem was defeated in the secretary of state’s race by Democrat Andrian Fontes. Both Republicans had promoted the narrative that the 2020 election was marred by fraud.
Maricopa County had sought sanctions against Lake, Finchem and their lawyers, alleging they broke a court rule by making unfounded allegations and by not conducting the necessary research before filing the lawsuit.
U.S. District Judge John Tuchi later concluded the lawsuit’s claims lacked an adequate basis in fact, that the standard inquiry attorneys must make before pressing litigation hadn’t been done and that the lawyers acted recklessly in seeking a court order based on frivolous claims.
The requirement to pay the legal fees applies to the lawyers who pressed the lawsuit, not to Lake and Finchem.
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected appeals over the lawsuit’s dismissal and the awarding of the legal fees.
The Associated Press left phone and email messages Tuesday for Parker, whose firm is based in Minneapolis.
Earlier this year, Parker asked the Supreme Court to throw out the requirement to pay Maricopa County’s legal fees in the case, arguing such sanctions would deter attorneys from bringing aggressive or novel legal claims.
Maricopa County said lawyers for Lake and Finchem had disregarded a letter that identified false allegations they had made in their lawsuit and relied on some of those claims in a later court filing. The county’s attorneys said those who brought the lawsuit failed to present evidence to support their allegations and falsely alleged that Arizona didn’t use paper ballots and that its electronic voting systems hadn’t been subjected to expert analysis.
FILE - Kari Lake testifies during a Senate Committee on Foreign Relations hearing to examine her nomination to be Ambassador to Jamaica, on Capitol Hill, June 18, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib, File)
MIAMI (AP) — Tropical Storm Trudy has formed in the Pacific Ocean.
THIS IS AN APNewsAlert. Check back for updates. AP's earlier story is below.
The death toll from Hurricane Simon and the remnants of Tropical Storm Rachel rose to six Tuesday after heavy rains triggered flooding and landslides along Mexico’s Pacific coast, authorities said.
Hurricane Simon continued moving slowly off Mexico’s Pacific coast as a Category 1 storm, bringing heavy rain to Nayarit and Sinaloa states, where authorities remained on alert for rising rivers and flooding. Over the weekend, the hurricane brought heavy rain to the southern state of Guerrero, killing one person.
But the worst damage was reported farther north, in the coastal city of Ensenada, Baja California, where flooding caused by Rachel’s remnants killed at least five people.
The victims included a 13-year-old girl whose body was found Sunday, two women ages 30 and 35 and a 4-year-old boy whose bodies were recovered Monday, and an unidentified person found near a stream Tuesday, the state prosecutor’s office told The Associated Press.
Five others remained missing in Baja California, including three in Ensenada and a father and son who went fishing Saturday in San Felipe, on the Gulf of California, and never returned.
About 300 military personnel, police and rescue workers searched along Ensenada’s El Pipila stream Tuesday, while the Mexican Navy continued looking for the missing fishermen, state civil protection authorities said.
Floodwaters swept away vehicles, damaged homes and cut off access to some communities.
Johana Nuriulu, a resident of Ensenada’s Buena Vista community, said the flooding began overnight, shortly after heavy rain knocked out electricity.
“We heard a loud noise that sounded like ocean waves, but very intense,” she said. When she stepped outside, she discovered a nearby stream had overflowed.
“The water was sweeping everything away; it took a cabin ... animals, everything.”
Elsewhere near Ensenada, Mexican soldiers used helicopters to rescue 32 people, including 13 minors, from Rancho Genesis, a camp for orphans staffed by missionaries.
The army said 22 of those rescued were foreign nationals. Baja California Security Secretary Gen. Laureano Carrillo said they included Americans and Germans.
Simon was moving parallel to Mexico’s Pacific coast Tuesday, threatening more rainfall in Jalisco, Nayarit and Sinaloa.
The hurricane was centered about 180 kilometers (110 miles) west of Cabo Corrientes, Jalisco, with maximum sustained winds of 150 kph (90 mph), according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami. It was moving west at 4 kph (2 mph).
In southern Guerrero state, Simon’s heavy rains toppled trees and utility poles, blocked roads and flooded homes in coastal communities, including the resort city of Acapulco, Gov. Evelyn Salgado said.
A 71-year-old person died when a wall collapsed in Chilpancingo, the state capital, she said.
Authorities also took preventive measures in the port city of Mazatlan, Sinaloa, ahead of the storm, national Civil Protection Coordinator Laura Velázquez said Monday.
Meanwhile, conditions were improving in the tourist destination of Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, where residents began resuming normal activities as the rain subsided.
State authorities ordered schools to reopen Tuesday, while operations at Puerto Vallarta’s airport gradually resumed.
Silva Rey reported from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Associated Press writer Fabiola Sánchez contributed from Mexico City.
Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
A man stands at the entrance to a pier closed off with caution tape after the passing of Hurricane Simon in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, Monday, Oct. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
A tourist walks on the beach after the passing of Hurricane Simon in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, Monday, Oct. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
People walk on the beach after the passing of Hurricane Simon in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, Monday, Oct. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
