Republican Kari Lake, a far-right former TV information anchor who quickly constructed a nationwide profile as one of the vital vocal proponents of President Donald Trump’s 2020 election lies, received’t be Arizona’s subsequent governor. However even when she admits that reality — an enormous if, provided that she nonetheless hasn’t conceded and continues to assault her state’s electoral course of— it’s not more likely to be the final we’ll see of her.
The Arizona governor’s race has made Lake a GOP star. She’s been outspoken about her excessive views on election safety, abortion, and immigration. She ran an unconventional marketing campaign, eschewing conventional advert buys for viral marketing campaign movies, stuffed with controversial statements that grabbed nationwide headlines, together with feedback that appeared to make gentle of the violent assault on Home Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband. All of that received her Trump’s admiration (and endorsement) and reward from different outstanding Republicans. She’s even been floated as a possible working mate for Trump in 2024.
Her preliminary response to her loss, which was known as by the Related Press on Monday, actually echoed Trump’s bombastic rhetoric: “Arizonans know BS once they see it,” she tweeted.
Her marketing campaign has reportedly been debating whether or not to formally problem the outcomes; her advisers are urging her to not “storm the fortress,” in response to the Washington Submit. However in a video posted Thursday morning, she confirmed no signal of backing down.
“Relaxation assured, I’ve assembled the perfect and brightest authorized staff, and we’re exploring each avenue to right the various wrongs which were performed this previous week,” Lake mentioned. “I’m doing every part in my energy to proper these wrongs.”
As of Thursday afternoon, Lake was nonetheless trailing her Democratic opponent, present Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, by greater than half a share level, the brink that might set off a recount. A recount isn’t more likely to overcome Hobbs’s roughly 17,000-vote lead, however Lake might use it as rationale to additional delay conceding the election, which she known as “botched” in a Fox Information interview on Monday.
The race appeared shut till the tip, with polls exhibiting Lake and Hobbs in a useless warmth earlier than Election Day. It took days for the outcomes to be known as, and Hobbs’s victory got here right down to the margins she was in a position to drive up in huge city facilities in Pima and Maricopa counties.
It’s an enormous loss for Republicans on this key battleground the place President Joe Biden received by slightly over 10,000 votes in 2020 and one other blow to Trump’s popularity as a kingmaker after his handpicked candidates had a poor exhibiting throughout the nation this yr. It’s additionally a key win for Democrats, who concurrently picked up a governorship and fended off the rise of one other far-right election denier.
However this would possibly solely be the start of Lake’s political profession — and that’s a worrying prospect for Democrats who’ve seen how formidable she’s been, at the same time as a political newcomer.
Lake’s views are excessive, even for Republican-leaning Arizona
Lake’s views on the 2020 election are particularly harmful in a spot like Arizona, the place Biden’s margin was extremely skinny and the place the state legislature, which could stay below Republican management, might quickly be empowered by an upcoming US Supreme Courtroom ruling to undermine the outcomes of future elections.
Lake has mentioned she wouldn’t have licensed the 2020 vote for Biden, saying that it was “corrupt, rotten.” She even filed a lawsuit, which has since been dismissed by a federal choose, that made false claims about points with vote-counting machines and sought to require Arizona officers to tabulate 2022 ballots by hand.
In contrast to Lake, most Arizonans are assured within the state’s elections: A Middle for the Way forward for Arizona/HighGround Public Affairs ballot launched in October discovered that 70 p.c of doubtless voters in Arizona believed the state’s elections have been safe and 77 p.c believed the 2022 outcomes can be correct.
Forward of Election Day, Lake additionally repeatedly dodged questions on whether or not she would concede the governor’s race if she misplaced, saying that “I’m going to win the election, and I’ll settle for that outcome,” and that she’d solely settle for a “truthful, trustworthy and clear” outcome. Through the major, she even preempted her personal win by saying that she would problem the outcomes if she misplaced as a result of it could have indicated “there’s some dishonest happening.” And earlier than the race was known as, she advised that Arizona election officers have been deliberately dragging their toes on releasing the outcomes whereas nonetheless declaring, “I am 100% going to win.”
Her supporters didn’t instantly seem like prepared to maneuver on both. Trump posted on his social community Reality Social that “they only took the election away from Kari Lake.” In a broadcast on Monday night time, far-right commentator Charlie Kirk, the founding father of Turning Level USA, mentioned the possibility of recalling Hobbs as governor.
Had Lake received, her election denialism might have been disastrous within the governor’s workplace: She would have had a task to play within the certification of presidential election outcomes and will have sought to make use of her workplace to delay or undermine the certification if she disagrees with the outcome.
Hobbs, however, rose to nationwide prominence after defending the integrity of the 2020 election ends in Arizona towards Trump’s efforts to overturn them, calling a Republican-led audit of the outcomes a method of “chasing conspiracy theories.” She refused to even debate Lake as a result of, as she informed CNN, she “didn’t wish to give her a much bigger stage” to unfold her lies concerning the 2020 election.
Lake’s views on abortion have additionally put her to the fitting of many Arizonans.
Lake helps present excessive restrictions on abortion in Arizona. That features laws handed earlier this yr by Arizona’s GOP-controlled state legislature that banned abortions after 15 weeks of being pregnant with no exceptions for rape or incest. The state additionally has a 121-year-old complete abortion ban on the books, which solely has an exception for when the lifetime of the pregnant particular person is in jeopardy. It went into impact instantly after the Supreme Courtroom’s June resolution to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Lake has supported the 15-week ban and the pre-Roe ban, which she has known as “an ideal regulation that’s already on the books.” She has additionally known as abortion “the last word sin,” mentioned abortion tablets needs to be unlawful, and mentioned she would assist banning abortion round six weeks of being pregnant.
Her positions appear to be out of sync with the Arizona citizens: A September OH Predictive insights ballot discovered that 9 in 10 voters agree that abortion needs to be authorized in a minimum of some instances. That appears to be extra in keeping with Hobbs’s calls to each overturn the pre-Roe ban and the 15-week ban.
The cult of character round Lake
Lake entered politics after retiring from journalism as a result of she didn’t “just like the route that it’s going,” as she mentioned in a video saying her resignation from native TV information. Aside from overlaying native and nationwide races for 22 years as a information anchor in Phoenix, she didn’t have any prior expertise in politics or authorities, which is uncommon for gubernatorial candidates.
Democrats initially appeared to put in writing off Lake as a fringe candidate. They even printed a press launch highlighting her major opponent Karrin Taylor Robson’s previous donations to Democrats, which made Lake seem like the true conservative within the race and extra interesting to GOP major voters. As in different components of the nation, Democrats appeared to imagine that the far-right Lake can be simpler to beat within the normal election.
However Lake had the backing of Trump, whose endorsement appeared to nonetheless carry weight in Republican-leaning Arizona. And she or he additionally had one thing that different 2022 far-right candidates, corresponding to Pennsylvania GOP gubernatorial nominee Doug Mastriano, didn’t have: greater than 20 years of expertise on air for a Fox affiliate. That resume made her perpetually camera-ready and adept at talking to voters’ considerations in a manner that many noticed as genuine and even harking back to Trump’s rhetorical model.
“I don’t want a pollster or a marketing consultant from DC or one other huge metropolis to return into Arizona and inform me what Arizona is about,” Lake informed Politico.
That angle was mirrored in her marketing campaign technique. Reasonably than shopping for TV adverts, she had her husband, a former videographer at NBC’s Phoenix affiliate and freelance producer, movie her sparring with reporters throughout interviews and posting the footage on-line, typically with viral outcomes.
Outstanding Republicans are starstruck by her. Kenneth L. Khachigian, Ronald Reagan’s former chief speechwriter, waxed poetic within the Wall Avenue Journal final month: “What makes Ms. Lake’s message totally different is its simplicity and fearlessness. It’s unapologetic and honest, not clothed in code phrases.” Trump reportedly sees one thing of himself in Lake. Even the present term-limited Gov. Doug Ducey, who accused Lake of “deceptive voters” when he was backing Taylor Robson in the course of the major, has lately warmed to her, although he hasn’t entertained her refusal to concede and known as Hobbs on Monday to supply his congratulations.
All of the reward from Republicans — and hypothesis that she may be a possible working mate for Trump, regardless that she didn’t win the governorship — has Democrats anxious. Regardless of her loss, they suppose she has presidential charisma, and her media savvy and temperament might assist Trump mount a tricky problem to President Joe Biden come 2024.
Replace, November 17, 2 pm ET: This story, initially printed on November 14, has been up to date a number of instances, most lately with extra data on Lake’s refusal to concede.