RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin said candidates should accept election results and “move on” once votes are counted and reviewed when asked whether Republican Kari Lake, who he backed for Arizona governor, should concede after she lost her race.
Youngkin faced criticism for stumping for Lake in Arizona, where he joined her on stage for a campaign rally in October, because she continued to spread unfounded claims about widespread election fraud in the 2020 presidential race during her campaign.
The governor defended his support for Lake ahead of Election Day, saying he was “comfortable supporting Republican candidates,” even those he doesn’t agree with on everything.
But nearly a month since the race was called for Lake’s Democratic opponent, Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, she has yet to concede the race and continues to echo claims that voters in the state were disenfranchised despite a lack of evidence.
On Friday, Youngkin was asked whether he felt Lake should concede and whether her efforts to put the election results into question were appropriate.
“I think what’s gonna become clear is as folks work through the exact same process that we worked through in Virginia is that the elections, once they have been fully counted and reviewed, folks need to go ahead and accept the results and move on with them,” Youngkin told 8News’ Jackie DeFusco. “And that’s what I think once all this process is complete in Arizona, they will understand that.”
“By the way, processes should be checked to make sure they are correct,” Youngkin added. “We did the same thing with post-election audits in Virginia. By the way, Virginia’s elections were fair, they were accurate, and the results, I think, reflect an enormous amount from our elections teams both in Richmond and across the commonwealth.”
Lake’s campaign has sued election officials in Arizona’s Maricopa County seeking records on the election, and there are reports of an impending lawsuit from her campaign challenging the results.
While a legal challenge could be on the horizon, Arizona’s election results are expected to be certified on Dec. 5.