Kari Lake Says She Plans on Taking Lawsuit ‘Right Up to Supreme Court’

Arizona Republican candidate for governor Kari Lake speaks with supporters at a rally in Phoenix on Nov. 3, 2022. (Allan Stein/The Epoch Times)

Republican Arizona candidate Kari Lake on Sunday signaled that she will not concede the Arizona gubernatorial election anytime soon, coming weeks after state officials certified the race in favor of her opponent, Democrat Katie Hobbs.

Earlier this month, Lake filed a legal challenge to contest Hobbs’s victory that sought to either declare her the winner or to conduct a re-do of the election. Her suit was filed against Maricopa County officials, Hobbs in her current capacity as Arizona’s secretary of state, and others.

Both Maricopa County and Hobbs have filed motions to dismiss Lake’s lawsuit, with court hearings on the motions scheduled to take place this week in the Superior Court of Arizona in Maricopa County. Oral arguments on the motions are slated for Monday, and if the case moves forward, a two-day trial is scheduled.

During an event at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest, Lake on Sunday stated that she wasn’t sure how a judge would rule on the several motions to dismiss her case. But based on her remarks, it appears the former TV host—who has endorsed by former President Donald Trump and has been floated as a possible vice presidential candidate for this 2024 bid—will not be conceding soon.

“We’ve seen judges dismiss cases, I don’t want you to get discouraged,” Lake told the crowd, according to video footage. “It could happen. We’re going to kick this right up to the Supreme Court, and I will not stop fighting.”

“I think they’re all wondering what I’m going to do,” Lake told the crowd. “I’ll tell you what, I’m not going to just knock that house of cards over. We’re going to burn it to the ground.”

Lawsuit

In her lawsuit, Lake cited statements made by Maricopa County Board of Supervisors Chairman Bill Gates and County Recorder Stephen Richer during the Nov. 8 election when they confirmed there were printer errors across dozens of polling locations and instructed voters to either cast their ballot at a different location or drop their ballot in a drop-box. The pair said later on Election Day that they had solved the printer error and stressed that no voters were disenfranchised.

Among other claims, Lake’s lawsuit asserted that tens of thousands of ballots in Maricopa County were tabulated without the proper chain-of-custody documentation and accused county officials of making ballots randomly appear. Because of the alleged chain-of-custody problems coupled with Election Day printer issues, largely Republican voters were disenfranchised, Lake contended.

Bill Gates, chair of the Maricopa Board of Supervisors, speaks about voting machine malfunctions at the Maricopa County Tabulation and Elections Center in Phoenix, Ariz., on Nov. 9, 2022. (Olivier Touron/AFP via Getty Images)

“Lake received the greatest number of votes and is entitled to be named the winner,” her lawsuit stated. “Alternately, the election must be re-done in Maricopa County to eliminate the effects of maladminstration and illegal votes on the vote tallies reported by Maricopa County.”

But in court filings to dismiss the suit, Maricopa County said her allegation was false and suggested she doesn’t understand how the chain-of-custody process works.

“This allegation is false, and will be easily disproven by the County if necessary,” Maricopa County said in court filings (pdf). “Plaintiff reviewed the County’s Early Voting Ballot Transport Statements, but the chain of custody documents for election day are different because the process for early ballot delivery is different on election day.”

Over the weekend, Lake scored a legal victory after Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson allowed (pdf) the GOP candidate to appoint an inspector to analyze a portion of Maricopa County ballots cast last month. The inspection can start Dec. 20 unless the suit is dismissed before then.

Last week, a lawyer for Hobbs’s office told a judge that they believe “the court will be able to dispose of this case in its entirety on a motion to dismiss without the need for an evidentiary hearing.”

A separate lawsuit filed by GOP secretary of state candidate Mark Finchem was dismissed as he trailed Democrat Adrian Fontes by about 5 percentage points, or over 120,000 votes. Lake, meanwhile, trails Hobbs by around 0.6 percentage points.

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Melissa Julian dismissed his lawsuit against Hobbs and Fontes, essentially confirming Fontes’ election win. In that suit, he accused Hobbs of misconduct for not recusing herself and for allegedly failing to ensure the proper certification.

“None of these alleged acts constitutes ’misconduct' sufficient to survive dismissal,” Julian wrote in her order.