Dem
51
GOP
49
Kari Lake lost the election for governor of Arizona by over 17,000 votes but hasn't conceded. In fact, she filed a lawsuit to overturn the election result. She is trying to out-Trump Trump, calling the people who run elections in Maricopa County "crooks" even though there is not a shred of evidence that they did anything illegal or that she won. In fact, Trump could learn a few things from her about how to make a great sound bite while lying through your teeth. She said: "They have built a house of cards here in Maricopa County. I think they're all wondering what I'm gonna do. I'll tell you what, I'm not just gonna knock that house of cards over. We're going to burn it to the ground."
In the first hearing of her lawsuit, her lawyer, Kurt Olsen, alleged—without any proof—that hundreds of thousands of illegal votes were cast and 30,000 Lake supporters were disenfranchised by long lines on Election Day. Olsen also claimed that Maricopa County election workers conspired to rig the election. Her theory seems to be, as long as you are going to lie, aim for the stars. We seem to remember some other historical figure who argued that big lies are much more effective than small lies.
Abha Khanna, the lawyer representing defendant Katie Hobbs (D), the current Arizona secretary of state and the governor-elect, said: "If there is anything rotten here ... it's candidates who cannot accept they lost."
Lake's lawyer made all kinds of incredible claims, none of which were backed up by even one iota of proof. One thing Lake's side did have were sworn declarations from more than 200 voters who claimed they were harmed by Maricopa County's procedures on Election Day. However, the county said that all but three of them did in fact vote, and the three who didn't vote could have but decided not to. One of the three couldn't find a parking space. Another didn't want to vote in the 26 days of early voting and found the lines too long on Election Day.
We think that Lake may be auditioning for the role of Trump's running mate by showing that she is as crazy as a loon. Consequently, she probably doesn't care what the judge does since her real audience is not the judge, but one Donald J. Trump. That's just as well because the judge threw out most of her suit. It can go forward on two minor points, though. That doesn't mean she can win even on those, but at least she can try to find evidence to support her claims. If she can't, she will lose those two as well, this time on the merits of the case. (V)