Left: Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs (D) speaks to reporters at a news conference on Aug. 2, 2022 (photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images). Right: Kari Lake (R) leaves a polling place after voting in the Arizona primary on Aug. 2, 2022 (photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images).
An Arizona judge rejected Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake’s attempt to overturn her defeat, affirming that Governor-elect Katie Hobbs won a “valid election.”
Finding otherwise, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson found, would have been an outcome unwarranted and unprecedented in U.S. history.
“It bears mentioning that because of the requested remedy – setting aside the result of the election – the question that is before the Court is of monumental importance to every voter,” Thompson noted in the ruling.
Thompson reminded Lake that her 17,117-vote defeat went beyond the scope of a mandatory recount.
“A court setting such a margin aside, as far as the Court is able to determine, has never been done in the history of the United States,” the judge wrote. “This challenge also comes after a hotly contested gubernatorial race and an ongoing tumult over election procedures and legitimacy – a far less uncommon occurrence in this country.”
Lake’s lawsuit cast suspicion upon reported problems involving the printer and tabulator machines in Maricopa County, Arizona, which sparked Election Day-delays that she claimed depressed Republican turnout. The pro-Donald Trump candidate ran on conspiracy theories related to the 2020 presidential election, and she refused to commit to honoring the results of the midterm election.
Hobbs, who is Arizona’s current secretary of state, defended the Grand Canyon State from the election litigation of Trump and his allies. She also argued that Lake failed to back up her allegations of “foul play” in the 2022 race. The judge agreed.
“Every one of Plaintiff’s witnesses – and for that matter, Defendants’ witnesses as well – was asked about any personal knowledge of both intentional misconduct and intentional misconduct directed to impact the 2022 General Election,” Thompson wrote. “Every single witness before the Court disclaimed any personal knowledge of such misconduct. The Court cannot accept speculation or conjecture in place of clear and convincing evidence.”
Recapping the witness testimony, Thompson found the election workers did their jobs honestly.
“It bears mentioning that election workers themselves were attested to by both Plaintiff’s witnesses and the Defendants’ witnesses as being dedicated to performing their role with integrity,” the ruling states. “Not perfectly, as no system on this earth is perfect, but more than sufficient to comply with the law and conduct a valid election.”
Lake, once again, refused to concede defeat — in a statement on Twitter.
“My Election Case provided the world with evidence that proves our elections are run outside of the law,” she claimed, falsely. “This Judge did not rule in our favor. However, for the sake of restoring faith and honesty in our elections, I will appeal his ruling.”
The judge imposed a deadline to file a motion for sanctions and a statement of costs by Monday. In federal court, a separate judge sanctioned Lake’s legal team in another failed election lawsuit.