Alert – Arizona election official said he wanted to ‘make life hell’ for Kari Lake with Senate race still undecided

The election official overseeing voting in Arizona’s most populous county told a friend last year that he was interested in pursuing a Senate run ‘to make life hell for Kari [Lake]’, according to court documents seen by DailyMail.com.

As Maricopa County Recorder, Stephen Richer is in charge of the ballots that could decide whether Lake triumphs in her tight run for the Senate.

But the comments will raise questions from allies of the conservative firebrand about whether he can be trusted to run a fair election. 

The explosive words come from the transcript of a June 21 deposition that will be included in papers to be filed Friday as part of a defamation case brought by Richer against Lake.

They show Richer also describing himself as ‘anti-MAGA.’

Trump ally Kari Lake is narrowly behind in the race for the US Senate in Arizona

Lake, a key figure in Donald Trump’s Make America Great Again movement, claimed that she lost the 2022 race for governor because of intentional misconduct but failed in her legal challenges to overturn the result. 

She currently trails her Democratic opponent Ruben Gallego by less than two percentage points with about 77 percent of ballots counted 

But the race is much closer than many polls predicted, setting up the possibility of another round of legal challenges if Lake loses.

In the deposition, Richer is asked to look at communication between himself and a friend called Ben Blink.’

‘Mr Blink says what options are intriguing you?’ says a lawyer for Lake.

'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 reelection as a Republican; run for reelection as an independent; run for mayor if no Kate; and then finally run for U.S. Sen, just to fly the flag for real conservatism and make life hell for Kari.

'Did I read that correctly?'

'Yes,' Richer replies.

Richer goes on to say that he never made a serious move to launch a run.

'Why would you want to make life hell for Kari lake in March of 2023?' he is asked.

'I don't remember,' he replies. 'I don't think she's a real conservative.' 

Stephen Richer gave a deposition on June 21, 2024, which includes dicussion of how he was considering a run for US Senate to 'make life hell for Kari'

Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer is suing Lake for defamation following her disputed 2022 run for governor. He said her claims of rigging made his family the target of threats

Lake rose to national prominence after narrowly losing the 2022 election for governor, echoing Donald Trump's claims about election fraud. 

She was even floated as a possible Trump running mate before deciding to run for the Senate seat vacated by Kyrsten Sinema.

Richer sued her for defamation saying that her repeated claims of rigging made him and his family the target of threats.

'Because of their actions, my family and I have faced an endless barrage of threats — including calls for our execution — I have lost close personal relationships, and I have had my reputation irreparably damaged,' he said in March. 

In the deposition, Lake's lawyer reads from another text exchange with Garrick Taylor, as they discuss his chances of winning the Republican nomination for the Senate seat.  

'I just don't think there's enough non-MAGA voters in the primary right now for running against somebody as well known and financed as Kari.

'And I'm no only not MAGA, but I'm anti-MAGA. Thoughts?' 

Last year Lake's name was frequently mentioned in connection with becoming Trump's running mate although she eventually opted to run for Senate

In a motion to be filed Friday, Lake's husband Jeff Halperin will request that the court drop the defamation lawsuit. 

Lake's campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

For her part, Lake previously described the lawsuit as 'frivolous' and a 'political witch hunt,' the same language used by Trump in dismissing cases against him. 

She said it showed the Washington political establishment knew that 'they can’t beat either of us fair and square, so they hit us with lawsuits to keep us tied up and off the campaign trail.'

Richer, a Republican, has held the position since 2020. 

But this year he lost a primary to G.O.P. challenger Justin Heap, a state representative who had the backing of the hard right Freedom Caucus. 

Richer's legal team did not immediately respond to a request for comment.