Defeated Republican Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake files election lawsuit

PHOENIX — Kari Lake, the Republican nominee for Arizona governor in the Nov. 8 election, filed a lawsuit on Friday challenging the results of the general election after she lost to Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs.

Lake claimed in the civil suit that there were “hundreds of thousands” of illegal ballots cast in Maricopa County. Hobbs won the race by 17,117 votes, according to the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office.

The suit also alleges that thousands of Republican voters were disenfranchised by tabulator troubles in Maricopa County.

Her lawsuit, filed in the Superior Court for Maricopa County, is asking for an election audit and recusal of Hobbs and Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer from participating in any reviews of the general election or new election.

Lake’s attorney is Bryan Blehm, who represented the Cyber Ninjas during the 2020 election audit.

“If the process was illegitimate then so are the results,” Lake tweeted on Friday. “Stay tuned, folks.”

Lake and her allies have focused on problems with ballot printers that produced about 17,000 ballots that could not be tabulated on site and had to be counted at the elections department headquarters.

Lines backed up in some polling places, fueling Republican suspicions that some supporters were unable to cast a ballot, though there’s no evidence it affected the outcome. County officials say everyone was able to vote and all legal ballots were counted.

Hobbs, Richer, Maricopa County Board of Supervisors Chairman Bill Gates and the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors were among the listed defendants in Lake’s lawsuit.

Hobbs released a statement in response:

A statement from our campaign manager on Kari Lake’s latest desperate attempt to undermine our democracy and throw out the will of the voters.

Baseless lawsuits don’t vote. Arizonans do. pic.twitter.com/rcN5OPjdPa

— Gov-Elect Katie Hobbs (@katiehobbs) December 10, 2022

The statewide certification, known as a canvass, was signed by Hobbs, Republican Gov. Doug Ducey, Republican Attorney General Mark Brnovich and Chief Justice Robert Brutinel on Monday.

Lake previously filed a public records lawsuit demanding Maricopa County hand over a variety of documents related to the election.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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