Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake’s election-related lawsuit did not gain any traction in court after a judge tossed it out on Christmas Eve day.
And now, she’s been hit with more bad news.
According to reports, her Democratic opponent, Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, who has been certified the winner of last month’s election and is slated to be sworn in early next month, has filed sanctions against Lake and her attorneys for filing a “frivolous” suit.
Fox News reported:
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson ruled against Lake’s challenge to the result of the November gubernatorial race in which Hobbs was declared the winner by about half a percentage point.
Thompson, who was appointed by then-Gov. Jan Brewer, a Republican, found the court was not presented with clear and convincing evidence of widespread misconduct Lake alleged influenced the 2022 general election results.
Lake’s claims included problems with ballot printers at some polling places on Election Day were the result of intentional misconduct. Thompson said Lake’s witnesses claimed to have no knowledge of the alleged misconduct.
On Monday, Hobbs requested the court award her $36,990 in attorneys’ fees and expenses for the court proceedings attached to Lake’s challenge.
“As a result of the efforts of the Secretary’s counsel and the other Defendants, the Court denied Plaintiff’s remarkable request for relief in its entirety,” the court filing read. “Accordingly, the Secretary prevailed, and achieved a total victory in this litigation.
“For the foregoing reasons, the Secretary respectfully requests that the Court award her $36,990 in reasonable attorneys’ fees and ‘expenses’ incurred in this action,” the filing concluded.
Lake lost her race by about 17,000 votes, according to Arizona’s official count. She has vowed to appeal her court loss.