Kari Lake wants to take Arizona election fight to U.S. Supreme Court

Former Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake on Tuesday announced plans to continue to take her election case to the U.S. Supreme Court after suffering a major loss in court.

Lake made the announcement after a judge ruled that his legal team did not have enough evidence to prove that poll workers failed to sufficiently match signatures on ballots.

Previously a veteran news anchor in the Phoenix area, Lake won the GOP nomination for governor but fell to Democrat Katie Hobbs in a close race in November, losing about 17,000 votes. Lake, like former President Donald Trump after the 2020 election, refused to acknowledge the loss, even when Hobbs was sworn in. Lake took the case to court, arguing that polling place irregularities in Maricopa County, Arizona’s largest county, had had a disproportionate impact. Republican voters and cost him the race.

His challenges have been consistently dismissed in court, including Monday’s decision. But at a press conference on Tuesday, she pledged to continue fighting her loss in court in a bid to try to make her case in the Supreme Court. She also claimed that her legal team “proved that our elections were a mess” and that “checking signatures is a joke.” She also said she was not surprised by the judge’s decision.

Lake also announced a new ballot box initiative, which she said was the largest in Arizona and possibly the country. These operations involve reaching out to registered voters and those who have requested mail-in ballots to ensure they submit ballots on time. Lake said the initiative has already raised more than $1 million in funding.

Lake was among several Republican candidates in the Arizona primaries and received Trump’s endorsement. She continues to support the “Big Lie” that the 2020 election was stolen from her.

Lake’s loss was seen as part of a larger mid-term trend of Trump-backed candidates losing in competitive races, calling into question his continued influence on the GOP and his political future.

Lake has remained a prominent figure in Republican politics, despite her lack of electoral success and lack of experience in elected office, making the rounds at many conservative events in recent months. Following his latest loss in court, Lake teased an upcoming announcement, which some took as a hint at a potential U.S. Senate race. She dismissed the rumor at the start of her speech on Tuesday but did not rule out the long term.

Newsweek contacted Hobbs’ office by email for comment.