Kari Lake scores major win as Arizona judge orders trial on election challenge

Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake's election challenge will head to trial after a judge declined to dismiss her case and allowed the suit to proceed.

Lake announced the development via Twitter, saying "Katie Hobbs attempt to have our case thrown out FAILED. She will have to take the stand & testify. Buckle up, America. This is far from over."

The Arizona Republican lost her gubernatorial bid to Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, but has since alleged that rampant voting irregularities in Maricopa County prevented many would-be Lake voters from casting their ballots.

Last week a Maricopa County Superior Court judge approved Lake's request to inspect random ballots from the county, both in-person and mail-in, in order to prepare for a potential trial.

Left-wing attorney Marc Elias, however, noted that the judge dismissed eight of Lake's ten claims and limited the remaining two allegations to "intentional misconduct," meaning she must prove that printer malfunctions were intentional and affected the outcome of the contest. She must also demonstrate the faults in the ballot chain of custody were intentional and also impacted the final result.

A stalwart supporter of former President Donald Trump, Lake has echoed his claims that mass voter fraud affected the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.

Though polling averages had predicted her to sail to an easy victory, Lake, like many Republicans, underperformed significantly as a "red wave" failed to materialize during the 2022 midterm contests.