More than six months after losing a bid to be Arizona's governor, former Republican candidate Kari Lake lost another court battle Monday in her effort to overturn Democrat Katie Hobbs' victory.
In a 6-page ruling, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson ruled that Lake had not provided evidence of misconduct in the county's signature-verification procedures for early ballots.
Lake, a former TV anchor and prominent election denier, lost last year's gubernatorial race by 17,117 votes and alleged the victory was marred by misconduct and illegal votes.
In December, Thompson rejected Hobbs' claims that defective printers and other issues with the 2022 election were the result of intentional misconduct — a ruling upheld in February by an appeals court.
In March, the state's high court declined to hear most of Lake's appeal of the February ruling. But the Arizona Supreme Court sent her claim challenging the signature-verification procedures back to the trial court, saying it had been erroneously dismissed.
At the time, Lake called the procedures a "house of cards" that she said her team "will get the chance to topple."
During a three-day trial, Lake's lawyers argued that there was evidence that lower-level screeners who found inconsistencies in signatures ran them up the chain of command, where they were neglected by higher-level verifiers, The Associated Press reported.
Thompson, who was appointed by former Republican Gov. Jan Brewer, found no "clear and convincing evidence or a preponderance of evidence that such misconduct was committed by 'an officer making or participating in a canvas,'" according to the ruling.
He also found no evidence that alleged misconduct affected the election's outcome.
A spokesperson for Lake did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday night.