A week after Election Day, media outlets across Arizona and beyond declared Democratic gubernatorial candidate Katie Hobbs the winner of her race against GOP challenger Kari Lake.
The delayed results came after widespread problems at the polls last week, which many critics — including Lake — believe could have contributed to an inaccurate ballot count.
In a tweet shortly after Hobbs was named as the projected winner, Lake wrote: “Arizonans know BS when they see it.”
Hobbs, who is currently Arizona’s secretary of state, is technically in control of the election. Lake and others on the right have repeatedly insisted that she should have recused herself from the process since she was on the ballot.
Here’s your call from Hannity. You can tell he’s not exactly happy pic.twitter.com/kJmWpjYB12
— Acyn (@Acyn) November 15, 2022
Although Lake’s critics in the Democratic Party and mainstream media have attempted to denounce her as an “election denier,” she has only called for a “fair, honest, and transparent” election, which many witnesses of last week’s fiasco do not believe occurred.
Prior to the election, she explained why she believes the current system is ripe for fraud and inconsistencies.
“When I first started voting back in the ’80s, we had Election Day,” Lake said during an ABC News interview last month. “Our Constitution says Election Day. It doesn’t say election season, election month, and we’ve watched as our Election Day has turned into election week and election weeks and now election month. And the longer you drag that out, the more fraud with problems there are.”
Of course, Hobbs expressed no such qualms and immediately accepted the media’s declaration of her win at face value.
“I want to thank the voters for entrusting me with this immense responsibility,” she said. “It is truly an honor of a lifetime, and I will do everything in my power to make you proud. I want to thank my family, our volunteers, and the campaign staff. Without all of your hard work, passion, and sacrifice this night would not be possible. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
Hobbs appears to have clinched her bid to become Arizona’s first Democratic governor since 2009 despite brazenly refusing to engage in a debate with Lake throughout the campaign.
Lake repeatedly questioned her rival’s motive for denying voters a chance to see her answer tough questions.
“Why is it that Katie Hobbs won’t debate?” she asked last month. “What is she trying to keep from you? What is she hiding?”
