Although the election results were not final at the time, Republican Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake asserted this week that she was confident enough in her victory that she had already begun assembling a transition team.
Lake, who took on Democratic rival Katie Hobbs in a hard-fought campaign to succeed GOP Gov. Doug Ducey, confirmed that she and her staff are “working already on moving forward on transition,” including putting together “an entire staff” tasked with tackling her plan for border security.
She shared her intention to file a lawsuit against the Biden administration for its perceived failure to enforce U.S. immigration laws.
“We’re looking at hiring attorneys already and some really top-notch people who understand the Constitution, the border, and how to deal with the federal government,” she explained.
Further detailing what she called the “Defend Arizona” plan, Lake asserted: “When we’re being invaded we can protect our citizens and protect our border. We’ll issue a declaration of invasion on day one. We’re going to stop people from coming over illegally and shut down the fentanyl trafficking that is flowing through Arizona.”
In the meantime, Lake is voicing concerns about her state’s election process, which happens to be controlled by her rival. Hobbs is currently Arizona’s secretary of state.
Maricopa County, the state’s most populous county, reported widespread issues at polling places on Tuesday, prompting a harsh rebuke from Lake.
“I woke up this morning and within minutes of the polls opening up I started getting people calling,” she said on Election Day. “Voters in tears, calling my personal numbers, saying ‘What’s going on? The tabulators aren’t working. They told me to put my ballot in a box and they would drive it downtown to the county.’”
Arizona gov. candidate Kari Lake (R) sows doubt about the integrity of the election results before polls have even closed:
"Voters in tears … saying, 'What's going on? The tabulators aren't working' … When we win, there's gonna be come to Jesus for elections in Arizona." pic.twitter.com/KDRYhsmQCd
— The Recount (@therecount) November 8, 2022
Lake vowed to address the issue of election result delays upon becoming governor.
“We’re not going to have this continue when I’m governor,” she said. “I can rest assured I will win. We know that votes are left to be counted and we know they are going to lean heavily Republican. And we’re going to restore faith and honesty in our elections starting on day one.”
As of Friday, about 79% of ballots had been counted and Hobbs held a slight lead over Lake.
