US midterm elections: Arizona governor-elect calls to sanction Kari Lake

Arizona Democratic governor-elect Katie Hobbs has had her election victory challenged by her Republican election-denier opponent Kari Lake. Following Lake’s failed effort to overturn the state’s gubernatorial election, Hobbs has called for the state courts to sanction Lake.

Hobbs on Monday asked a court to sanction Lake for her efforts to overturn the state’s election in her favor. Lake has sought to challenge her defeat, but a judge on Saturday dismissed her lawsuit demanding that she be declared the winner even as there is a lack of evidence to prove that voter fraud was present during the November elections.

The Democratic governor-elect, who is currently the state’s Secretary of State, joined the motion by Arizona’s Maricopa County to sanction Lake and her attorneys, and the county’s deputy attorney Thomas P. Liddy said that Lake filed a “groundless” lawsuit for a “frivolous pursuit,” according to court documents.

“Enough really is enough,” wrote Liddy in the motion that was filed on Monday. “It is past time to end unfounded attacks on elections and unwarranted accusations against elections officials.”

In another court filing, Hobbs asked the superior court in Maricopa County for $600,000 in compensation for fees and expenses from defending Lake’s lawsuits.

On the same day, Lake’s lawyers filed a response to the motion, saying that there was “no basis in law or fact” and asked the court to deny the request for sanctions. Unlike her fellow election deniers that lost the November midterm races, Lake has not conceded.

Meanwhile, congressman-elect George Santos of New York has been heavily scrutinised for lying about his education and employment history while running for Congress. Santos this week has come under fresh scrutiny over his claims of having Jewish heritage.

The Republican Jewish Coalition told Santos that he would not be welcome at the group’s future events for lying about having Jewish roots.

The comments by the group follow an interview Santos had with the New York Post the day before, where the Republican congressman-elect “never claimed to be Jewish” even as the newspaper described what was a message on his campaign website that said his mother was Jewish and his grandparents escaped the Nazis during World War II.