Kari Lake loses legal challenge in Arizona governor’s race

By Ignacio Ventura, Chad Snow
Published: Saturday, December 24, 2022 - 12:19pm
Updated: Sunday, December 25, 2022 - 8:31am

Katie Hobbs and Kari Lake
Gage Skidmore/CC BY 2.0
Katie Hobbs (left) and Kari Lake.

Republican Kari Lake has lost her legal bid to overturn her loss in the Arizona governor’s race. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson issued his ruling Saturday, confirming the election of Democrat Katie Hobbs.

Lake’s challenge was based in part on problems that Maricopa County experienced on Election Day with ballot printers. She alleged the issues had been caused intentionally.

But she was unable to prove that allegation, or that any voters were denied the right to cast a ballot.

In his ruling, Thompson noted that the bar to overturn election results based on allegations of misconduct is extremely high. And he noted that Lake’s team failed to provide clear and convincing evidence to support their claims. He also noted that Hobbs defeated Lake by more than 17,000 votes — beyond the margin that would trigger a recount.

Political analyst Jim Heath says Lake’s argument amounted to nothing more than a conspiracy theory.

"You know, Kari Lake can go out with a megaphone and say whatever she wants. But when you get in a court of law, that’s sort of one of the last bastions in our republic where facts, you know, still, still matter."

Following the ruling, Lake tweeted that she will appeal the ruling.

Heath says that is a predictable response based on Lake’s willingness to emulate former President Donald Trump.

"Well, Kari Lake politically is a loser again. And she’s following the trek that her mentor Donald Trump did in challenging election results in courtroom after courtroom," said Heath.

Politics Elections