US President Donald Trump (left) participates in a tour of a Honeywell International plant that manufactures personal protective equipment in Phoenix, Arizona on May 5, 2020. Photo: AFP

An Arizona judge on Saturday dismissed a lawsuit brought by Republican candidate Kari Lake, a Donald Trump loyalist who sought to overturn her unsuccessful bid to become the southwestern state's governor. 

The court found no "clear and convincing evidence of misconduct" that would have impacted the outcome of the November election as Lake alleged, Judge Peter Thompson said in his decision.  

Lake, a 53-year-old former TV news anchorwoman, tweeted Saturday that "for the sake of restoring faith and honesty in our elections, I will appeal his ruling." After losing to Democrat Katie Hobbs by a margin of 17,117 votes, Lake claimed that problems with ballot printing in Maricopa County, Arizona's most populous county which includes its capital, were intentional and aimed at her defeat. 

The court cannot accept speculation or conjecture in lieu of clear and convincing evidence, said Thompson, who also upheld Hobbs's victory.

Lake supporters had seized on minor problems with vote tabulation machines in Maricopa, home to the US' fifth biggest city, Phoenix, which left some people standing in lines during the November vote.

Officials have forcefully insisted that no legitimate vote would be excluded, and mounted a well-organized social media campaign to push back at falsehoods circulating online.

Arizona has been under intense scrutiny for two years since Joe Biden eked out a win in the state over Trump, the president at the time.

Maricopa County became ground zero for election deniers, who made unfounded claims about ballot stuffing, despite repeated investigations that turned up no evidence of wrongdoing.

AFP