Kari Lake assures voters and media that she will accept results
On Election Day, Kari Lake expressed her concerns about voter fraud while assuring listeners that she will accept the results of the 2024 election.
A trio of high-profile cases filed by Arizona Republicans challenging their losses to Democrats in the 2022 election are over.
The Arizona Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to hear appeals by Kari Lake, Abe Hamadeh and Mark Finchem related to their defeat two years ago.
The decision brings finality just after another election in which Arizonans elected Hamadeh and Finchem to other posts.
Hamadeh won a seat in Congressand Finchem will return to Arizona Legislature, this time in the Senate. Lake, who is running for the U.S. Senate, was trailing his Democratic opponent, Ruben Gallego unofficial results as of Thursday.
The Arizona Supreme Court met Wednesday to decide which cases it would hear and which it would not, rejecting appeals from the three Republicans. Judges vote on whether to hear a case and decide for their own reasons, Chief Justice Ann Scott Timmer said in a statement. These decisions are not collective or publicly explained.
Lake has claimed she lost to Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs two years ago in a “stolen” election. Hobbs beat Lake by about 17,000 votes, less than one percentage point. Lake’s alleged problems with ballots and long lines in Maricopa County were reason enough to declare her Arizona’s 24th governor, or alternatively re-run the election in the state’s most populous county.
Her case has survived in part because while courts rejected most of her claims for lack of evidence, the Arizona Supreme Court gave her a second chance to argue issues related to signature verification in early voting. But one the appeals court earlier this year rejected those claims by Lake’s legal team.
Hamadeh, who lost to Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes by just 280 votes after a recount, filed his case in Mohave County. His attorneys in May asked the state Supreme Court to hear the case, arguing they were “straightjackets” at a 2022 trial because a judge did not grant them access to review ballots, a cast voter list or a list of provisional ballots.
“We applaud the Supreme Court’s correct decision to end this frivolous challenge by Mr. Hamadeh,” Mayes said in a statement Thursday. “This ends a series of unfortunate and ill-informed lawsuits that have led to a whole new election cycle. I will continue my work as an advocate for all the people of Arizona.”
Finchem faced Democratic Secretary of State Adrian Fontes in the 2022 election, but lost by more than 120,000 votes. The Court of Appeal in June rejected Finchem’s 2022 election claims were falsepotentially denying him the secretary position.
Finchem did not return calls seeking comment. A spokesperson for Hamadeh and lawyers for Lake did not respond to a request for comment.
The Supreme Court also denied Finchem’s request to vacate an appeals court order to pay $38,000 in attorneys’ fees to Fontes.
Craig Morgan, Fonte’s lawyer, said the Supreme Court decision appeared to mark the end of the nearly two-year legal battle during the last election.
Reach reporter Stacey Barchenger at stacey.barchenger@arizonarepublic.com or 480-416-5669.
Reach the reporter at maryjo.pitzl@arizonarepublic.com or at 602-228-7566 and follow her on Threads as well as on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter @maryjpitzl.
