Arizona judge rejects Lake's gubernatorial election challenge

Dec. 24 (UPI) -- An election lawsuit filed by Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake was rejected by a judge Saturday, affirming the victory of Democratic Gov.-elect Katie Hobbs.

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson ruled that Lake didn't prove election officials committed misconduct sufficient to change the outcome of the race.

Thompson said that the court "cannot accept speculation or conjecture in place of clear and convincing evidence."

Lake said in a tweet after the decision that she would appeal Thompson's ruling.

"For the sake of restoring faith and honesty in our elections, I will appeal his ruling," Lake said.

Thompson had previously dismissed eight other counts in Lake's lawsuit prior to the trial. But he allowed the Donald Trump ally a chance to prove her remaining two claims involving malfunctioning printers and the ballot chain-of-custody during a two-day trial.

Lake had emphasized her support of Trump's lies about the 2020 presidential election being stolen from him during her campaign. She lost to Hobbs by about 17,000 votes.

Lake claimed that a mishap with some printers in Maricopa County was part of a deliberate effort to rig the vote against her. But the judge's ruling noted that Lake's "own witness testified before this Court that ... printer failures were largely the result of unforeseen mechanical failure."

Lake's legal team has until Monday to respond.

Hobbs is slated to be inaugurated as governor on Jan. 2.