An outgoing Arizona election honcho overseeing voting in the state’s most populous county told a friend last year he wanted to run for Senate “to make life hell” for Republican candidate Kari Lake, explosive court documents show.
Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer’s blistering remarks came from the transcript of a June 21 deposition in a defamation case he brought against the Donald Trump-backed Lake and were first reported by The Daily Mail.
Richer, who’ll leave the office at year-end, is in charge of ballots that could decide whether the former TV anchor triumphs in her tight race against Democrat Ruben Gallego — raising questions about his ability to run a fair election.
During the deposition, Richer was asked by Lake’s lawyer to review a communication between himself and a friend named “Ben Blink.”
“Mr Blink says what options are intriguing you?’ says lawyer William Fischbach.
“And your response if kind of a laundry list here of bullet points: Get out of politics permanently; get out of politics temporarily; run for re-election as a Republican; run for re-election as an independent; run for mayor if no Kate; and then finally run for U.S. Senate, just to fly the flag for real conservatism and make life hell for Kari.”
Richer confirmed he made the remarks but said he never made a serious move to launch a Senate run.
“Why would you want to make life hell for Kari Lake in March of 2023?” asks Fischback.
“I don’t remember,” Richer replies. ‘I don’t think she’s a real conservative.”
Lake alleges she lost the 2022 governor’s race to Democrat Katie Hobbs because of problems with ballot printers at some Maricopa County polling places, which were the result of intentional misconduct, and that the county didn’t verify signatures on mail ballots as required by law.
Her legal challenges to overturn the election result have failed.
Lake and Richer could not immediately be reached for comment.
