Arizona’s Kari Lake Is Already Claiming Election Fraud

This year, Lake has also pushed conspiracy theories about mail-in ballots and early voting, demanding a single day of in-person voting. Her support for early and mail-in voting on the eve of the election echoes the flip-flopping from former president Donald Trump, who has also realized that without early and mail-in voting he does not have a chance to win.

Lake may have changed her mind on the veracity of mail-in ballots, but she remains convinced that the election will be stolen. The only solution? “We’re going to make it too big to rig,” Lake told her supporters.

Throughout her Senate campaign, Lake has repeatedly refused to answer a simple question: Would she be willing to accept the results of the election?

Polling suggests that Lake could be about to face another loss, and based on her remarks throughout the campaign, it is unlikely that Lake, who will still not concede she lost in 2022, will be willing to graciously concede.

Ultimately, Lake took her challenge to court, and lost again. Undeterred, Lake continued to ingratiate herself with Trump and MAGA, and was even considered as a possible vice presidential candidate.

Now, Lake has claimed it would be foolish to commit to accepting election results without knowing what those results are.

Many of her supporters who spoke to WIRED on Monday night agreed with Lake, convinced there was fraud afoot in the election already.

“I don’t think we should accept anything until we know that the election is an honest election. We know the last one was rigged and the 2020 one was rigged,” Sandy, a Lake supporter from Prescott Valley, tells WIRED.

But there were also some supporters who urged their candidate to do the right thing and concede if she was defeated.

“We’ve got no choice, we’ve got to accept the results,” says Rick Starmer, from Chino Valley in Yavapai County.

Kari Lake has made immigration a key issue of her Senate campaign.

Photograph: Jamie Lee Taete