Kari Lake comes closer than in past to conceding defeat

PHOENIX — Kari Lake has conceded she lost her bid for a U.S. Senate seat.

Sort of.

In a 2 1/2-minute video posted Wednesday evening on X, the GOP candidate thanked her supporters, saying they’ve been with her from the time she announced for governor in 2021 through the 2024 campaign against Democrat Ruben Gallego.

“And you never wavered,’’ Lake said. “I can’t thank you enough for that. It was a movement of love for family, for Arizona and for America.’’

She does not actually admit that the latest ballot count has her behind by more than 73,000 votes. While there still were more than 99,000 to be tallied, almost half of them were in Pima County where Gallego is outpolling her by a 3-2 margin.

Lake said how glad she is that Donald Trump was elected president and that voters put the U.S. House and Senate into Republican hands, paving the way for the new chief executive to carry out his plans.

There was a hint of Lake’s go-to position since losing the 2022 governor’s race, as she said the new administration will ensure a secure border, a prosperous economy, safe streets “and free and fair elections.’’

“And I know more than anything that this administration will fight to deliver that for you,’’ Lake said.

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Lake, a former TV newscaster, gave no hint as to what is next for her other than “I will never stop fighting for the state I love.’’

As nebulous as her video is, it is far more of an acknowledgment she lost than occurred after the 2022 election when Lake insisted there was fraud and cheating.

Not a single judge found any evidence to support that claim. Her case only ended a week ago when the Arizona Supreme Court rejected her final appeal.

One thing that may have made a difference is the 73,000-vote margin of this loss out of about 3.3 million ballots cast in the race. By contrast, Lake fell behind Democrat Katie Hobbs two years ago by a much smaller margin: just 17,117 votes.

There’s also the fact that any claim of fraud against Republicans would not be able to explain how Trump outpolled Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in Arizona by more than 183,000 votes.

Lake gathered more of the votes cast on Election Day than Gallego. But that edge was wiped out by Gallego already having votes in the bank, outpolling her among early voters by more than 156,000.

By contrast, Trump ran ahead of Harris in Arizona in both early voting and those who voted in person.