[4] She stepped down from her anchor role shortly before announcing her gubernatorial candidacy, winning the Republican nomination with the endorsement of former President Donald Trump.

[37][38] After launching her campaign for governor in 2021, Lake cited Trump, Ronald Reagan, and Arizona Republican Party chair Kelli Ward, all former Democrats, as precedent for her party-switching.

[40] Four candidates sought the Republican nomination: Lake; former real estate developer and Arizona Board of Regents member Karrin Taylor Robson; Paola Tulliani Zen, and Scott Neely.

"[50] Her statements were in contrast to her past description of John McCain (Arizona's former Republican senator) four years earlier, after his death, as "courageous", "a war hero, icon and a force to be reckoned with".

[51] However, both attended a gubernatorial candidate forum in September 2022, held by the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry, where they separately answered questions.

[53] On November 11, the Phoenix Police Department said that the Arizona state laboratory had tested the items turned over to them by Lake's campaign, and found "no substance" inside.

[64] Lake tweeted quotes made by Sidney Powell on Lou Dobbs Tonight falsely asserting there was a sweeping election fraud conspiracy.

She has advocated imprisoning Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, her Democratic opponent in the gubernatorial race, on baseless and unspecified allegations of criminality related to the 2020 election.

[7] Lake repeatedly claimed that defendants arrested in connection with the January 6 United States Capitol attack were "being held in prison without being charged".

[65][66] Trump endorsed Lake's candidacy,[67] as did pro-Trump Republican figures such as Arizona congressman Paul Gosar and former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn.

[68][better source needed] By contrast, Lake's main primary opponent, Robson, was endorsed by outgoing Republican governor Doug Ducey,[69] as well as Arizona Senate president Karen Fann and Americans for Prosperity.

[61] Lake attended events headed by My Pillow founder Mike Lindell, a prominent promoter of false claims regarding fraud in the 2020 election.

[70] During a June 2022 debate among candidates for the Republican nomination, Lake continued to make baseless claims the 2020 presidential election was "stolen" and "corrupt".

[83] Lake alleged voter disfranchisement due to ballot printing problems and long waiting lines in Maricopa County, which had elections run by local Republican officials.

[78][84] In 70 out of 223 Maricopa County polling sites, voting machine ballots were printed too lightly to be read by tabulators; the problem was caused by a printer setting which had not shown widespread issues during prior testing.

[90] While Lake alleged that Republican-dominated areas in Maricopa County were disproportionately affected by the printing problems, The Washington Post found that the percentage of registered Republicans in affected precincts (37%) was very close to the percentage of registered Republicans across Maricopa County (35%), and also found that some Democrat-dominated areas also faced the printing problems.

[96] The results of an independent investigation into the 2022 election's printing problems was published in April 2023; the investigation was led by a retired chief justice of the Arizona Supreme Court, Ruth McGregor, who concluded that "the primary cause of the election day failures was equipment failure", and that no evidence gathered gave "clear indication that the problems should have been anticipated".

[105] Within days, Judge Adleman ruled that Lake could no longer claim in court that she had not defamed Richer, because under "well-established Arizona law – a defaulted party loses all rights to litigate the merits of the cause of action".

[108] In August 2022, U.S. District Judge John Tuchi dismissed the suit, writing that Lake and Finchem "articulated only conjectural allegations of potential injuries" and thus lacked standing.

[108] Tuchi said the sanctions would show that the court does not tolerate litigants "furthering false narratives that baselessly undermine public trust at a time of increasing disinformation about, and distrust in, the democratic process".

[112] Finchem and Lake's appeal, aimed at banning electronic voting machines, was rejected in October 2022 by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which highlighted that "counsel for plaintiffs conceded that their arguments were limited to potential future hacking, and not based on any past harm", and voiced agreement "with the district court that plaintiffs' speculative allegations that voting machines may be hackable are insufficient to establish an injury".

[118] On December 19, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson, who was appointed by Republican governor Jan Brewer, dismissed eight of ten counts of Lake's lawsuit (specifically, her claims of invalid signatures on mail-in ballots, incorrect certification, inadequate remedy, and violations of freedom of speech, equal protection, due process, the secrecy clause, and constitutional rights).

[9][119] The judge allowed the remaining two counts (Lake's claim that election officials intentionally interfered with Maricopa County ballot printers and with the chain of custody of Maricopa County ballots) to go to trial,[120] specifying that Lake would need to prove at trial that the allegations were true and that the alleged actions actually changed the election.

[122][123] On December 24, Judge Thompson dismissed Lake's remaining case,[124][123] writing: "Every single witness before the Court disclaimed any personal knowledge of such [intentional] misconduct.

"[123][125] A day after the ruling was issued, Lake's Twitter page attacked the judge in this case, linking to a Townhall article to baselessly claim that "his decision was ghostwritten" by "top left-wing attorneys like Marc Elias.'"

[12] After a three-day trial, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson ruled against Lake for her remaining claim on May 22, 2023, thus re-affirming Hobbs' election.

[144][15] In April 2023, Lake sued Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer, seeking to compel him to produce 1.3 million ballot affidavit envelopes, containing voters' signatures, names, addresses, and phone numbers.

[160] She praised the June 2022 Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which held that there was no federal right to abortion under the U.S. Constitution, and overturned Roe v.

[162] In early 2024, Lake shifted positions; her website said that she "does not support a federal ban on abortion"[164] and in a March 2024 interview she denounced the 1864 anti-abortion law.

"[168][169] In an op-ed for the Independent Journal Review, Lake wrote that as governor she would deport illegal immigrants that enter Arizona without seeking federal approval and complete unfinished portions of the Mexico–United States border wall.