Kari Lake loses appeal over Arizona gubernatorial election loss

An Arizona judge dismissed Republican Kari Lake's challenge of her 2022 gubernatorial election loss against Democrat Katie Hobbs.

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter A. Thompson ruled Monday that Lake failed to prove misconduct from members of any state election board, let alone misconduct that could have impacted the election results.

The judge said, "The Court DOES NOT find clear and convincing evidence or a preponderance of evidence that such misconduct did in fact affect the result of the 2022 General Election by a competent mathematical basis."

The court ruling also confirmed that Hobbs was elected governor.

Lake's attorney, Kurt Olsen, argued last week that questionable ballot counting and verification in Arizona shows that the 2022 election should be overturned. He said about 274,000 ballots with signatures were verified in less than three seconds each.

Thompson also said Monday that the court cannot consider arguments about the length of time spent reviewing signatures because "no standard appears" in Arizona law.

Hobbs was about 17,000 votes ahead of Lake in the 2022 election. 

Thompson had initially dismissed Lake's case, but the Arizona Supreme Court sent the part of her lawsuit dealing with signatures back to the trial court.

Madeleine Hubbard is an international correspondent for Just the News. Follow her on Twitter or Instagram.