Republican Kari Lake's Bid to Overturn Election Dismissed by Judge, Katie Hobbs Affirmed as Ariz. Governor
Matt York/AP/Shutterstock; Jon Cherry/Bloomberg via Getty Kari Lake, Katie Hobbs
An Arizona judge has rejected Republican Kari Lake's attempt to overturn her election loss in the Arizona Governor's race, affirming Democrat Katie Hobbs as the winner in last month's election, according to multiple reports.
Lake, an ardent ally of Donald Trump who repeated his lies that the 2020 Presidential election was stolen from him, had alleged that problems with ballot printers at some polling sites stemmed from intentional malfeasance. But Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson found there was no evidence to support such a claim, the Associated Press reports. Thompson was appointed by former Gov. Jan Brewer, a Republican, the outlet reports.
Lake, who vowed to appeal in a statement posted to Twitter, has repeatedly claimed she was robbed of victory even after the election was certified on Dec. 5. Instead of conceding, she filed a lawsuit against both Hobbs and Maricopa County.
According to The Washington Post, Lake's counsel said that "hundreds of thousands of illegal ballots infected the election in Maricopa County."
Justin Sullivan/Getty Kari Lake
In his ruling, Thompson determined, "The Court cannot accept speculation or conjecture in place of clear and convincing evidence," according to the AP.
The former television news anchor's attorneys said that the printing issues made the ink on the ballots too light to read, causing the line for those waiting to vote to be grow longer and longer. Thompson said while he acknowledged the "anger and frustration" of voters who were inconvenienced by the problems, tossing out election results "has never been done in the history of the United States," per The New York Times.
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He added, "But this Court's duty is not solely to incline an ear to public outcry. It is to subject Plaintiff's claims and Defendants' actions to the light of the courtroom and scrutiny of the law."
