A Maricopa County, Arizona judge ordered losing Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake to pay her victorious Democratic opponent, Katie Hobbs, more than $33,000 to reimburse Hobbs for expert testimony needed to counter Lake’s debunked claims of election fraud, CNN reports.
The ruling falls short of awarding Hobb’s reimbursement for her legal expenses to fight Lake’s claims, estimated to be in excess of $600,000. Hobb’s lawyers argued that Lake and her legal team put forth an argument to the court that they knew could not be substantiated to a legal certainty and that Lake’s team failed to provide even the slightest bit of evidence that parties within the state government conspired against her in the gubernatorial race by intentionally making it difficult for people to vote on Election Day.
Lake has vowed to continue her fight for the governorship of Arizona despite having lost the statewide race by more than 17,000 votes, a margin confirmed by recounts in various counties, including Maricopa County, which accounts for 60% of the votes in the state.