Former GOP gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake has filed a lawsuit alleging enough election improprieties in November of last year to cost her a victory against then-Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, who has since been elected governor of Arizona. A state appeals court in Arizona has now made a major decision on Lake’s lawsuit.
After the state Supreme Court rejected her case earlier this month, the Arizona Court of Appeals has ruled that the case must first be heard by lower courts before being heard before the state Supreme Court and has now agreed to expedite that hearing.
There was a brief order from the court in which the court agreed with Lake’s arguments should be handled as a “special action petition.” A court date has been scheduled for March, according to reports.
During the pending litigation that Lake is involved in, her campaign has responded to rumors that have been swirling that she is contemplating running for the US Senate seat now occupied by Kyrsten Sinema, who recently left her party and has now declared herself an independent candidate.
CNN political reporter Kate Sullivan posted on Twitter, “I’m told Kari Lake is considering running for the US Senate seat held by Kyrsten Sinema in 2024,”
Polls indicate that the firebrand Republican would win the election against both Kyrsten Sinema, the sitting Independent Senator, and Ruben Gallego, the Democratic challenger.
“The survey, released January 11 by the website Blueprint Polling, imagined a scenario in which Sinema, a former Democrat turned independent who’s held her Senate seat since 2019, runs for reelection against Lake and Gallego, a Democrat who represents the state’s 3rd Congressional District. Lake, who rumors say is considering running for the seat but has not confirmed this, polled at 36 percent, according to Blueprint, well ahead of the two rivals. Gallego trailed closely with 32 percent, while Sinema ran a distant third with 14 percent,” Deseret News reported.
According to the poll, one of six voters polled indicated they were undecided in a three-way race, which could be beneficial for Senator Sinema in her bid to keep her seat.
Senator Sinema, who left the Democratic Party last month, has gained the support of Republican and Democrat voters and a separate poll indicates that she stands the best chance of remaining in the Senate, stating that it “may be for the Republican party to nominate a candidate so flawed that moderate and conservative voters would abandon that person for the Independent Sinema.”
Conservative Brief reports:
Sinema officially left the Democratic Party in December and changed her affiliation to the Independent. Her move weakens Democrats’ already tenuous hold on the upper chamber. Prior to her announcement, Democrats had a 51-50 majority in the U.S. Senate.
In a guest column for the Arizona Republic, Sinema slammed “partisanship” and the stranglehold it has on both major parties. Sinema, who is up for re-election in 2024, said she will continue to caucus with Democrats.
“Everyday Americans are increasingly left behind by national parties’ rigid partisanship, which has hardened in recent years,” Sinema wrote. “Pressures in both parties pull leaders to the edges, allowing the loudest, most extreme voices to determine their respective parties’ priorities and expecting the rest of us to fall in line. In catering to the fringes, neither party has demonstrated much tolerance for diversity of thought,” she wrote. “Bipartisan compromise is seen as a rarely acceptable last resort, rather than the best way to achieve lasting progress. Payback against the opposition party has replaced thoughtful legislating.”
“There’s a disconnect between what everyday Americans want and deserve from our politics, and what political parties are offering. I am privileged to represent Arizonans of all backgrounds and beliefs in the U.S. Senate and am honored to travel to every corner of our state, listening to your concerns and ideas. While Arizonans don’t all agree on the issues, we are united in our values of hard work, common sense, and independence,” Sinema said.
Becoming an Independent won’t change my work in the Senate; my service to Arizona remains the same. Read my full Op-ed in the Arizona Republic 3/3 ⬇️https://t.co/P2JQXFT5IJ
— Kyrsten Sinema (@kyrstensinema) December 9, 2022
“I promised I would never bend to party pressure, and I would stay focused on solving problems and getting things done for everyday Arizonans. Americans are more united than the national parties would have us believe. We’ve shown that a diverse democracy can still function effectively. Arizonans – including many registered as Democrats or Republicans – are eager for leaders who focus on common-sense solutions rather than party doctrine. But if the loudest, most extreme voices continue to drive each party toward the fringes – and if party leaders stay more focused on energizing their bases than delivering for all Americans – these kinds of lasting legislative successes will become rarer,” she wrote.
“When politicians are more focused on denying the opposition party a victory than they are on improving Americans’ lives, the people who lose are everyday Americans. That’s why I have joined the growing numbers of Arizonans who reject party politics by declaring my independence from the broken partisan system in Washington. I registered as an Arizona independent,” she declared.
