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Kari Lake, a Republican vying to become Arizona’s next governor who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump, said she would not have certified Joe Biden’s victory in Arizona even though the an audit supported by the GOP confirmed its victory.
Lake, a former Phoenix news anchor, said people “saw things wrong” with the election when they appeared on the right-wing One America News network.
“Considering the amount of information we already had at the time about serious irregularities and issues with the elections, I would not have certified at that time,” Lake said.
Lake is running in a crowded primary estate that has attracted notable Republican candidates including Arizona Treasurer Kimberly Yee and former Congressman Matt Salmon. Outgoing GOP governor Doug Ducey is not eligible for a third consecutive term.
A September poll showed Lake topped the GOP with 25 percent, although more than half of voters said they did not know who they would vote for.
Brandon Bell / Getty Images
Whoever wins the nomination will face a Democrat in what is expected to be one of the most competitive gubernatorial races of 2022. Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs is considered the primary favorite. democrat.
Trump endorsed Lake last week, saying in a statement, “She’s a fantastic person who has spent many years working as a well-respected TV presenter and journalist. For this reason, few can face fake media like Kari. She’s strong on Crime Will Protect Our Border, the Second Amendment, the military and vets, and fight to restore the integrity of elections (past and future!). “
Arizona is one of several swing states where Republicans have pushed for election audits after the 2020 presidential election, based on unsubstantiated claims that the election was stolen from Trump.
The audit focused on the state’s largest county, Maricopa. It has long been seen as a Republican stronghold, but Biden toppled it in 2020 in part because of its strength among suburban voters. His victory in Maricopa County saw him topple the Blue State for the first time in decades.
Biden won Arizona with 49.36% of the vote, compared to 49.06% for Trump.
The results of the audit were released in late September and confirmed Biden’s narrow victory in Maricopa County. In fact, it gave Biden 99 more votes, going from 1,040,774 to 1,040,873.
Yet some Republicans, including the former president, have falsely claimed that the audit proved the election was stolen.
Other Republicans, including Ducey, defended the election results. Ducey said there would be no decertification of the election.
“As far as the audit goes, like the three audits that came before it, it’s now over. The result is confirmed and the 2020 Arizona election is over,” Ducey tweeted.
Although the audit, conducted by Cyber Ninjas, confirmed the election results, it was widely condemned by election experts as partisan and “laughable.”
“Having no experience in election audits, the Ninjas’ announcement that they had confirmed, with a high degree of accuracy, the election results of the second largest county in the country is, in our opinion, laughable,” Larry Moore, founder and retiree CEO of Clear Ballot Group, which pioneered independent audits of major voting system companies, wrote in an explanation accompanying the report released Friday.
News week contacted Lake’s campaign for comment, but did not receive a response by post.
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