OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Former Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake says her election lawsuit is headed to the Arizona Supreme Court after the appeals court ruled against her. In their ruling, the court stated that voters were able to cast their ballots and votes were counted properly in Arizona during November’s midterm elections.
“Lake argues that the superior court erred by dismissing her claims asserting equal protection and due process violations. Her arguments fail, however, because these claims were expressly premised on an allegation of official misconduct in the form of interference with on-site tabulators — the same alleged misconduct as in Lake’s printer/tabulator claim,” the ruling stated.
It continues: “Because these claims were duplicative of a claim that Lake unsuccessfully pursued at trial, the superior court did not err by dismissing them. For the foregoing reasons, we affirm the superior court’s ruling confirming Hobbs’s election as governor. We deny Hobbs’s request for an award of attorney’s fees on appeal because she offered no substantive basis for the award.”
“Evidence ultimately supports the conclusion that voters were able to cast their ballots, that votes were counted correctly, and that no other basis justifies the election results,” it said.
Lake responded on Twitter to the news, writing: “BREAKING: I told you we would take this case all the way to the Arizona Supreme Court, and that’s exactly what we are going to do. Buckle up, America!”
Earlier this month, Lake said she’s “entertaining” a possible U.S. Senate run.
During an interview with Charlie Kirk on his Real America’s Voice show, Lake hinted that she could run for the Senate in the 2024 election if she doesn’t get a “decent ruling” in her lawsuit for the Arizona gubernatorial election.
When Kirk asked if she was “entertaining” a Senate run, Lake replied: “Yes I am entertaining it. I mean my number one priority is our court case, and I have full confidence in our court case and I hope we will get a judge to do the right thing. But I’m also looking at what happens if we don’t get a decent ruling in that, and they want me to go away, they want our movement to go away. I represent we the people, and if they want us gone so badly that they’re willing to steal an election then I’m not going to let them have that, I won’t go away.”
“I’ve seen some internal polling that shows I’m the only Republican who can beat these other two. I find both of them incredibly dangerous to the people of Arizona, Kyrsten Sinema’s voting record being 93 percent of the time voting for Joe Biden’s agenda, I find Ruben Gallego being a self-admitted socialist really frightening for Arizona and if I’m the only Republican who can beat them, I would be willing to jump in,” Lake added.
WATCH:
"They want our movement to go away."@KariLake joins @CharlieKirk11 to weigh in on her lawsuit and a possible run for U.S. Senate in Arizona.
Watch LIVE ➡️ https://t.co/AOtHV4zjmr
Watch #TheCharlieKirkShow here: https://t.co/0vTH11em18 pic.twitter.com/MBSXu5JnBR
— Real America's Voice (RAV) (@RealAmVoice) February 6, 2023
Lake’s campaign responded to rumors that she is considering a run for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Krysten Sinema, who left her party months ago and is now a self-declared Independent.
A recent poll showed that the firebrand Republican would defeat sitting Independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema and Democrat challenger Ruben Gallego.
“The survey, released January 11 by the website Blueprint Polling, imagined a scenario in which Sinema, a former Democrat turned independent who’s held her Senate seat since 2019, runs for reelection against Lake and Gallego, a Democrat who represents the state’s 3rd Congressional District. Lake, who rumors say is considering running for the seat but has not confirmed this, polled at 36 percent, according to Blueprint, well ahead of the two rivals. Gallego trailed closely with 32 percent, while Sinema ran a distant third with 14 percent,” Deseret News reported.
Since leaving the Democrat Party last month, Sen. Sinema has gained support from Republican and Democrat voters and, the poll said that her best chance to stay in the Senate “may be for the Republican party to nominate a candidate so flawed that moderate and conservative voters would abandon that person for the Independent Sinema.”
Sinema officially left the Democratic Party in December and changed her affiliation to the Independent. Her move weakens Democrats’ already tenuous hold on the upper chamber. Prior to her announcement, Democrats had a 51-50 majority in the U.S. Senate.
In a guest column for the Arizona Republic, Sinema slammed “partisanship” and the stranglehold it has on both major parties. Sinema, who is up for re-election in 2024, said she will continue to caucus with Democrats.
Becoming an Independent won’t change my work in the Senate; my service to Arizona remains the same. Read my full Op-ed in the Arizona Republic 3/3 ⬇️https://t.co/P2JQXFT5IJ
— Kyrsten Sinema (@kyrstensinema) December 9, 2022
