Kari Lake has not conceded and suggests a legal challenge

TUCSON, Ariz. (KOLD News 13) - Losing Republican Gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake has thus far refused to concede her race to Governor-elect Katie Hobbs.

She released a two and a half minute carefully worded video statement on Twitter, telling her followers she’s “still in the fight.”

On the video, she conceded nothing, blaming her loss on others, such as the elections officials in Maricopa County, saying, “They failed us miserably.”

While some machines malfunctioned on election day, they were repaired, and everyone was allowed to cast a ballot. Some voters complained about long wait times and long lines because of the equipment malfunctions.

“At the very worst, people were inconvenienced by these problems,” said Jeff Rogers a Tucson attorney and former Chair of the Pima County Democratic party. “But people were not deprived of the right to vote.”

Lake did not contest the election and gave no hint of where she goes from here but did say she has collected a team of legal experts, indicating there may be a legal challenge in the future.

Whether that’s to contest the election isn’t known, but Rogers says Arizona Revised Statutes have very explicit rules governing when that can happen.

Rogers says he has seen no evidence that the accusations made by Lake rise to that level.

“I think this is a frivolous complaint and just another chapter in election denialism,” he said. “In the 20-25 years I’ve been involved in politics, I have never seen a successful election challenge yet.”

In her video release, Lake said, “We are exploring every avenue to correct the many wrongs that were done in this past week. I’m doing everything in my power to right those wrongs.”

One of those she cites is the refusal of Hobbs to recuse herself from the Secretary of State’s office while she ran for Governor. Although, elections in Arizona are run by each individual county and not by the Secretary of State.

Judges in Arizona have been very protective of votes, voter rights and elections in recent court challenges.

If Lake has a legal strategy, Rogers says her attorneys will need to tread lightly.

“All across the country we’re seeing lawyers disciplined and disbarred by the bar associations for making these frivolous claims on behalf of Trump and others backing Trump and the same thing can happen in Arizona.” he said.

Rogers says he sees as a concern about the Lake strategy of not conceding.

“Just lie about the election and to question the validity of the elections period,” he says. “Giving the voters and others less faith in our democratic process, these are people who want to dismantle elections as we know it.”

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