KJZZ is a service of Rio Salado College,
and Maricopa Community Colleges

Copyright © 2024 KJZZ/Rio Salado College/MCCCD
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Kari Lake won't get a do-over of her loss in 2022 Arizona governor's race, court rules

Woman in red top speaks into microphone
Gage Skidmore/CC BY 2.0
Kari Lake speaking with attendees at a meeting of the Arizona Legislative District 28 Republican Party at Westbrook Village in Peoria on Nov. 20, 2023.

The Arizona Court of Appeals ruled that Republican Kari Lake will not get a do-over of her loss to Gov. Katie Hobbs in the 2022 general election.

In Tuesday’s ruling, the court also said Lake is not entitled to a new trial to present evidence she claims was unavailable when she first challenged her gubernatorial loss in court.

And in one case, they noted, Lake actually had the evidence at the time of the trial, evidence she said shows misconduct in the way the election was handled. But she didn't present it because her expert didn't have the time to study it.

"The rule does not provide relief for one who possesses documents at the time of an election contest, but does not have the time, for whatever reason, to analyze them,'' wrote appellate Judge Sean Brearcliffe.

The judges acknowledged there are legal procedures that can resurrect cases. But they said Lake’s claims did not meet those requirements.

Lake argued some ballots printed on Election Day in Maricopa County used the wrong size paper. But an appellate judge said even if those 8,000 potentially impacted ballots were all rejected, it still would not have been enough to flip the election in Lake’s favor.

A trial judge rejected her assertion that 8,000 "affected'' votes somehow translated into 8,00 uncounted ballots. But Brearcliffe said that's just part of the problem with her arguments.

"Perhaps most important, the vote differential between Lake and Hobbs in the election was over 17,000 votes,'' he wrote. "Even if 8,000 uncounted votes had all gone to Lake, it would have been insufficient to overcome this differential.''

There was no immediate response from Lake or either of her attorneys. Lake, who is running for U.S. Senate, can still file an appeal to the Arizona Supreme Court.

Greg Hahne started as a news intern at KJZZ in 2020 and returned as a field correspondent in 2021. He learned his love for radio by joining Arizona State University's Blaze Radio, where he worked on the production team.
Related Content