OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
The Arizona Supreme Court declined last month to hear parts of Republican Kari Lake’s appeal over the gubernatorial race from November’s midterms. However, the state’s highest court did revive a claim that was dismissed by a trial court regarding the signature verification process in Maricopa County.
In a newly filed briefing, Lake’s team doubled down at the state Supreme Court on her claim that there are 35,563 ballots that were unaccounted for and allegedly showed up in Maricopa County’s final total in November’s midterm election.
The court also ordered Lake to file a response to Democrat Gov. Katie Hobbs’ and Democratic Secretary of State Adrian Fontes’ motions asking the court to sanction Lake for claiming in her brief “the undisputed fact that 35,563 unaccounted for ballots were added to the total of ballots at a third-party processing facility.”
The justices concluded, “The record does not reflect that 35,563 unaccounted ballots were added to the total count. The motions for sanctions will be considered in due course.”
The motion over the alleged 35,563 is critical because it exceeds Hobbs’ roughly 17,000 vote margin of victory.
In late March, the Arizona Supreme Court granted Lake’s motion to revive the claim regarding the signature verification process in Maricopa County.
“In an order Wednesday, the state’s highest court said a lower court erroneously dismissed Lake’s claim challenging the application of signature verification procedures on early ballots in Maricopa County. The court sent the claim back to a trial court to consider,” the Associated Press reported.
The AP continued: “In mid-February, the Arizona Court of Appeals rejected Lake’s assertions, concluding she presented no evidence that voters whose ballots were unreadable by tabulators at polling places were not able to vote. The appeals court noted that even a witness called to testify on Lake’s behalf confirmed ballots that couldn’t initially be read at polling places may ultimately have been counted. And while a pollster testified that the polling place problems disenfranchised enough voters to change the election’s outcome, the appeals court said his conclusion was baseless.”
Last month, Lake announced on Twitter that her election lawsuit was headed to the Arizona Supreme Court after the appeals court ruled against her.
The court stated that voters were able to cast their ballots and votes were counted properly in Arizona during November’s midterm elections, the ruling stated.
It continues: “Because these claims were duplicative of a claim that Lake unsuccessfully pursued at trial, the superior court did not err by dismissing them. For the foregoing reasons, we affirm the superior court’s ruling confirming Hobbs’s election as governor. Evidence ultimately supports the conclusion that voters were able to cast their ballots, that votes were counted correctly, and that no other basis justifies the election results.”
As Lake awaits a decision on her lawsuit, speculation has mounted about her possible next political move.
Late last month, an early poll exploring the 2024 U.S. Senate election in Arizona found that Lake could win the race.
A recent survey by Blueprint Polling found that Lake is leading by 4 points over Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego and by 22 points over incumbent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, who switched her party registration from Democrat to Independent.
“An early 2023 survey of likely general election voters illustrates that Senator Kyrsten Sinema’s path to
reelection is both complicated and unprecedented. Sinema runs a distant third in a hypothetical three-way race in the general that also includes 2022 GOP gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake and Democratic
Congressman Ruben Gallego,” the survey found.
“Kari Lake polls at 36% in a three-way Senate race with Gallego and Sinema. The congressman follows closely at 32% while the incumbent polls less than 14%. One in six voters are undecided. Sinema draws support from both Republicans and Democrats—she gets the vote of 15% of Biden 2020 voters and 11% of Trump 2020 voters,” the group found.
The Wall Street Journal published a report detailing that Lake “is now turning her attention to the state’s 2024 Senate contest, setting the stage for a political bounceback while worrying some Republicans who feel she is too extreme to win a general election.”
The Cook Political Report recently published an analysis detailing how Sinema and Gallego could pull enough support from one another to give Lake an edge in the 2024 Senate race.
Sen. Krysten Sinema’s decision to switch from Democrat to independent may have saved *her* a primary, but it’s given Democrats a huge headache. First, and foremost the DSCC and other Democratic allies will have to decide whether to support the official Democratic nominee (likely Rep. Ruben Gallego) or their Senate colleague who, while identifying as an independent, still caucuses with Senate Democrats.
Then there’s the question of what a three-way contest between Sinema, Gallego, and a GOP nominee would look like. Recent polling in the state showing Gallego leading in a number of potential scenarios is a bit misleading. After all, unlike his potential challengers (Sinema and failed GOP gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake), Gallego hasn’t been hit with millions of dollars of negative advertising.
The five-term congressman represents an overwhelmingly Democratic district and has never received less than 75% of the vote. Moreover, it’s likely that Gallego will be attacked not just by Republicans, but by Sinema as well. A messy GOP primary only adds to the uncertainty of how this thing plays out in the fall. And the Biden campaign can’t afford a “Democrats in disarray” scenario in this must-win state either. Overall, it’s just a big mess.
Earlier this month, Lake shot down a report that Trump is “seriously” considering her to be his 2024 running mate.
