Lake, characterized in media reports as a “MAGA firebrand”, has spread false claims about the fraudulence of the 2020 presidential election result, referring to it as “corrupt”, “stolen”, and “rigged”.

The GOP candidate has targeted her Democratic opponent and current Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs in a series of messages claiming she carries race-related convictions.

The Claim

Multiple tweets sent by Kari Lake in October 2022 accused her opponent Katie Hobbs of being a “twice-convicted racist”.

Lake’s comments were echoed by Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk.

The Republican candidate has also released an advert titled on YouTube: “Katie Hobbs: Twice-Convicted Racist”.

The Facts

As her campaign advert shows, Lake is referring to a discrimination lawsuit filed against the Arizona State Senate by former employee Talonya Adams while Hobbs was Senate minority leader.

Adams, who served as a policy advisor for the Arizona Senate until 2015, filed a suit against the state court in 2017 alleging that she was paid less than her co-workers due to her race and sex.

In her first trial in 2019, the jury found that the Senate had fired Adams in retaliation for complaining about this, and she was awarded $1 million.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor: “Retaliation occurs when an employer (through a manager, supervisor, administrator or directly) fires an employee or takes any other type of adverse action against an employee for engaging in protected activity.”

The Senate requested a second trial and argued that while Adams had presented evidence that she complained about pay, her complaint was not related to discrimination. Its request was granted.

This new trial sought to determine the “crucial issue,” per the opinion of U.S. District Judge Douglas L. Rayes: If Adams “complained about disparate pay based on sex or race.”

The court agreed with Adams and she won the second trial when a jury found she was a victim of retaliation based on sex.

Rayes noted at the end of his opinion: “In sum, though Ms. Adams presented no evidence that she complained about pay disparities based on race, she did testify that she complained about pay disparity based on sex.”

The jury awarded Adams $2.75 million, although this was later capped at $300,000 under federal law.

Hobbs was a central decision-maker in the termination of Adams. The others involved in the termination were Senate Republican chief of staff Wendy Baldo and Democratic chief of staff Jeff Winkler, per AZ Mirror and 12News reports citing testimony from the trials.

In a letter to campaign supporters in November 2021, Hobbs said: “I take responsibility for my role in the decision to terminate Ms. Adams, and I stand by what I’ve consistently said, that this decision on my part was not based on gender or race,” per AZ Central.

Then, in December 2021, Hobbs said in a statement that Adam’s case was “yet another example of the systemic inequities and racism that have long permeated every aspect of our lives, too often in ways that are invisible to people like me.”

She added: “I recognize that my experience and understanding of racism has sometimes been too narrow. I’ve missed personal and leadership opportunities to fight harder for racial equity. I am committed to growing, learning and holding myself accountable.”

Hobbs was a key decision-maker in the firing of Adams, and she has taken some responsibility for that, though it should be noted that the Arizona State Senate, not Hobbs personally, was the defendant in both trials. She was not a party.

Moreover, even if Hobbs had been the named defendant, this was a civil lawsuit with no race-related criminal convictions.

Cornell Law School defines conviction as “an adjudication of a criminal defendant’s guilt; specifically, it is the act or judicial process of finding a criminal defendant guilty of a charged offense.”

Lake’s rhetoric—“twice-convicted racist”—is therefore inaccurate.

In a statement to Newsweek, Sarah Robinson, communications director for Hobbs’ campaign, characterized Lake’s comments as a “lie”.

Newsweek has contacted Lake for comment.

The Ruling

False.

Katie Hobbs has no criminal convictions for racism, as suggested by Kari Lake’s campaign rhetoric.

The Arizona State Senate was sued in a civil lawsuit by Talonya Adams, a Black former employee who successfully argued that she suffered retaliation for complaining about disparity of pay based on race and sex discrimination.

Hobbs was not named as a defendant, though she was a key decisionmaker in the termination of Adams. She has denied that race or gender were factors in her decision.

A jury in a second trial again found in favor of Adams, and that she suffered retaliation after making a complaint based on sex, though the judge noted in his opinion Adams “presented no evidence that she complained about pay disparities based on race”.

FACT CHECK BY Newsweek’s Fact Check team