By Zachary Stieber
The television station that used to employ Arizona Republican gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake on Oct. 27 called the race for Lake’s opponent, despite the fact the election won’t be held until November.
A graphic displayed by Fox 10, the TV station, said that Katie Hobbs, the Democrat nominee, won the election with 53 percent of the vote.
The graphic was shown during a newscast at about 5:50 p.m. local time.
Fox 10 acknowledged airing the graphic, blaming what happened on a test gone wrong.
The graphic showed “test results for the upcoming election,” the broadcaster said. “These were generated by the Associated Press which distributes results to clients.”
“This graphic was never meant to go on air—the numbers were only part of a test. The station has taken steps to make sure this cannot happen again,” it added.
Lake said the graphic may have been a retaliatory move because it happened shortly after she held a press conference urging reporters to do their due diligence to check claims by Arizona Democrats that a person who broke into Hobbs’ campaign office was linked to Lake.
State Rep. Jake Hoffman, a Republican, said in response that he would introduce a bill in the future addressing the situation.
“While I understand the need for internal planning by news stations, errors like this that are broadcast live to the public pose a legitimate threat to our Republic and serve only to undermine the confidence that Arizonans have in the integrity of their vote,” Hoffman said in a statement. “What if this had happened on election night of the day before the election? The impact to our democratic process would be devastating.”
The legislation would hold news outlets accountable should they interfere with Arizona’s election and/or disenfranchise Arizona voters like this in the future,” Hoffman said.
The midterm election is slated to take place on Nov. 8.
Early voting has already begun in Arizona.
Lake, 53, has never before held office. She worked for Fox 10, or KSAZ-TV, for 22 years before leaving in March 2021. She launched her campaign several months later.
Hobbs, 52, was elected Arizona secretary of state in 2018. Before that, she was part of the Arizona legislature.
