Arizona GOP Candidate Kari Lake Trails In Returns, Says Election Was ‘BS’ & ‘Garbage’

On Wednesday, the Arizona gubernatorial race remained too close to call.

Republican candidate Kari Lake trailed Democratic nominee Katie Hobbs by less than a percentage point with around 65% of the votes counted. Lake has already hinted that she believes the results may not be correct.

“We had November 3, 2020, that was called incompetency 101,” Lake said at her election night gathering on Tuesday night. “We need honest elections and we’re going to bring them to you, Arizona, I assure you of that. The system we have right now does not work.”

The “incompetency” comment was clearly directed at Hobbs, who serves as Arizona’s secretary of state, which includes acting as the state’s top election official.

Lake been a vocal supporter of former President Donald Trump’s claims of a ” stolen” election in 2020, going so far as to say that she may not concede if she loses. She added that she would not stop fighting until she is convinced that the election is “free and fair.”

“If [a win] comes decisive on Election Day, then bring it to us that way,” she told the crowd on Tuesday night that she prayed to God earlier that day. “If we have to fight through the BS and the garbage, then we will fight through the BS and the garbage.”

Arizona has been becoming an increasingly contentious battleground state, presenting very close elections in recent years.

After starting out down by double-digit percentage points on Tuesday, Lake expressed optimism at the results on Wednesday afternoon.

“Wow,” she wrote on Twitter. “We’re going to win big. Stay tuned, Arizona!”

Wow. We’re going to win big.
Stay tuned, Arizona!

— Kari Lake (@KariLake) November 9, 2022