Kari Lake loses in Arizona for the second time. Who wants to make it three?
by Zachary Faria, Commentary Writer |
May 23, 2023 04:20 PM
Kari Lake has lost in Arizona once again. If you think being a two-time loser is enough, she can’t wait to add a third loss to her resume next year as well.
Lake lost her final court case in her bid to have the 2022 Arizona gubernatorial election overturned, with the Maricopa County Superior Court ruling that she did not present evidence that misconduct altered the result of the election. She has, once again, officially lost her race to Democrat Katie Hobbs, who has been serving as governor for over four months now.
And Lake is not done, either. She has teased a big announcement for Tuesday, which could be anything. She may declare she has a new treasure trove of evidence that Arizona Democrats conspired to rig the election against her but not any of the other Republicans running for state office or House seats who won while Lake choked away a winnable race.
But Lake has been repeatedly tied to the 2024 Arizona Senate race. She said of running for the Senate that “It’s in the back of my mind right now. I’m still waiting for our verdict on our trial that wrapped up on Friday for our election.” Well, that verdict has been handed down, and yet another loss isn’t likely to discourage her. Even if she doesn’t announce it immediately, it seems like only a matter of time before Lake jumps into the Senate race.
Democrats would certainly love to hear that news. The 2024 Senate map is brutal for Democrats, but with Lake jumping into the Arizona race, Democrats would have the best chance at holding that seat. Lake spent her final days of the 2022 campaign telling Republican voters not to vote for her if they liked the late Sen. John McCain — not exactly a wise move in a state that elected McCain to the Senate six times.
Those voters obliged, backing other Republicans down-ballot, including Treasurer Kimberly Yee, while shunning Lake. How easy would it be for a normal Republican to win in Arizona? Yee not only received 119,000 more votes in the treasurer race than Lake did running for governor, but she also received over 102,000 more votes than Hobbs did in the governor’s race. Yee received 68,000 more votes than the highest-performing statewide Democrat, Sen. Mark Kelly.
Lake is a proven loser. She lost to Hobbs, then lost in court in her delusional efforts to overturn the election. If she does run for Senate, she will only be giving Democrats a sigh of relief as they can focus on defending Senate seats that would be in danger from candidates that haven’t already been rejected by their state’s voters.
