Kari Lake Announces Appeal in Election Lawsuit, Says They ‘Now Have the Video’

Arizona Republican gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake speaks to supporters during her election night event at The Scottsdale Resort at McCormick Ranch in Scottsdale, Ariz., on Nov. 8, 2022. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake’s lawyers filed a notice of appeal in her election lawsuit against Maricopa County and now-Gov. Katie Hobbs in a bid to challenge the results of the 2022 election.

Lake told conservative TV network Real America’s Voice this week: “Our attorneys just filed a notice for appeal.” She added that members of her team “now have the video” to support claims of alleged misconduct in Maricopa County.

“And that was not available to us because Maricopa County, the people who committed the crime against the people, held that information from us. Now we have the information, and that changes everything. And so we are filing a notice to appeal, and you’ll see more filings in the coming days,” the Republican candidate said, also confirming that “my attorneys just filed, in the past few minutes, hour or so, they just filed a notice of appeal to the Arizona appellate court.”

“We the People showed up to cast our sacred vote, and until we get our government back, I’m not going to stop fighting. I don’t care what they say,” Lake added, hitting back against criticism about her pursuit of election-related challenges.

Maricopa County, in a Twitter post, responded to Lake’s assertions, suggesting they are false.

“The video shows the installation of new memory cards which happens in each election,” the county wrote on May 30. “A judge already considered this supposedly ‘new’ evidence in Ms. Lake’s election contest and found it unconvincing.”

In the May 30 filing, Lake’s team alleged that Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson incorrectly ruled in a case of whether officials in the county followed state election law regarding signature verification on envelopes. It also flags what her lawyers alleged were widespread vote-tabulating problems across dozens of polling locations on Election Day.

Lake said that witnesses spoke of hours-long lines at a number of voting locations during the Nov. 8 contest, arguing that data signals that it was mainly Republican voters who were impacted. Maricopa County officials have previously said that printing machines suffered issues but have insisted that all voters were able to cast their ballots and have them counted.

Prepared to Take it to US Supreme Court

At a rally in Arizona this week, the GOP candidate said that she is prepared to take her case to the U.S. Supreme Court, although the high court has shown little appetite in hearing election fraud-related cases since the 2020 election.

“We want to take this case to the United States Supreme Court,” Lake said at her event, according to reports. “I hear they’re interested in it. They realize our country is being torn apart. The fabric of our country is just torn apart right now. And they want an election case, and I think we’ve got the perfect one to bring to them.”

She added: “So whatever happens here in Arizona with our judges, I hope to God that they feel that hand of God pressing down on them. I hope when the great people of Arizona wake up, concerned about our state, that they wake up in the middle of the night as well. I hope God wakes them up and tells them how important this case is.”

Previous rulings from Thompson, the Arizona Court of Appeals, and the state Supreme Court have rejected Lake’s challenges since the conclusion of the midterm elections. Data shows that Lake was behind Hobbs, who was sworn in as governor in January, by 17,117 votes.

“The court finds that looking at signatures that, by and large, have consistent characteristics will require only a cursory examination and thus take very little time,’’ Thompson, the Maricopa judge, wrote in his recent ruling, handed down last month.

“This, not the satisfaction of the court, the satisfaction of a challenger, or the satisfaction of any other reviewing authority is the determinative quality for whether signature verification occurred,’’ the judge added. “It would be a violation of the constitutional separation of powers for this court, after the recorder has made a comparison to insert itself into the process and reweigh whether a signature is consistent or inconsistent.’’

Senate Run?

This week, Lake also signaled that she might run for another office, including the Senate seat currently held by independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, who left the Democratic Party last year. Other than Sinema, who hasn’t officially announced her reelection bid, Rep. Reuben Gallego (D-Ariz.) has announced he would seek her Senate seat in 2024.

As for a 2024 Senate run, “I haven’t made up my mind on that,’’ Lake told Tuscon.com.

A spokesperson for Lake earlier this year told news outlets that the GOP candidate met with Senate Republican officials about a possible bid. Lake has also been critical of Sinema, accusing her of capitulating to leftists, and Gallego, claiming he is a socialist, while saying that internal polls show that she would win the 2024 matchup.