Kari Lake apparently wants to run two elections at once.
The failed Republican gubernatorial candidate-turned-Senate-candidate in Arizona has seemingly attempted to take a less extreme approach on some issues this time around in an effort to woo voters.
But a new court filing submitted on her behalf should end speculation that she’s anything but a far-right conspiracy theorist. And that’s because Lake is still trying to have a court reverse her gubernatorial election loss last year as she wages a bid for a completely different office. The filing Wednesday claims a court “can and should set aside” the 2022 election results, in which Lake lost to Democrat Katie Hobbs by more than 17,000 votes.
Lake’s filing asks the Arizona Court of Appeals to vacate the certification of last year’s gubernatorial election and order a revote.
Don’t hold your breath on that request. Lake has repeatedly asked courts to overturn her election loss based primarily on lies that issues with ballot tabulation machines unfairly disadvantaged Republican voters. Even Republican election officials in Arizona have rebuffed her claims. One — Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer — is suing her for defamation over false claims she made suggesting he engaged in election fraud.
Logistically and legally, I don’t even know how running a Senate race and a gubernatorial race concurrently would work. But Lake’s illogic is beside the point. Her illiberalism is the key problem here. Wednesday’s filing should be a lesson to media and voters not to be enraptured by suggestions or outward appearances that Lake is looking to moderate her stance. She’s still flaunting her disdain for democracy.
Ja’han Jones is an MS NOW opinion blogger. He previously wrote The ReidOut Blog.