IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 1st, 2022
Contact: JBerry@AZDem.org
Bruising #AZGov Primary Finally Comes To a Head

The “Contentious”,  “Cringe-worthy” and  “Raucous” Primary Has Seen Weeks of Attack Ads, Private Jet Drama and More

PHOENIX- Arizona’s primary election is tomorrow and  with it comes an end to the unhinged and embarrassing MAGA death match that has become the GOP race for Governor. Voters are left to choose between a “anti-abortion, election-denying conspiracy theorist” and another “anti-abortion, election-denying conspiracy theorist.” This bitter primary race has fractured the Republican Party with opposing endorsements, name calling and once unified GOP power players now taking separate sides.

Kari Lake and Karrin Taylor Robson have been battling it out to prove who’s the most far-right candidate, with Taylor Robson desperately blitzing the airwaves, and spending millions of her own money in an attempt to differentiate herself from Kari Lake. But Taylor Robson stills aligns with Kari Lake on nearly every issue from abortion, to guns, to pushing conspiracy theories about elections. Once the dust settles on this hostile primary, it’ll be clear that neither Lake nor Taylor Robson can unify their own party, let alone Arizona.

Key Takeaways on the GOP Primary: 

1. Kari Lake is Still in the Lead-Kari Lake is still leading the Republican primary as wealthy lobbyist Karrin Taylor Robson struggles to close the gap before August 2nd. Taylor Robson has already blown through $18.4 million and spent nearly $2 million in the first two weeks of July alone. However, undecided Republican primary voters still make up a significant portion of the field, leading Lake and Taylor Robson to fire off more increasingly desperate and incendiary attacks in this race to the far right.
2. This Race has Fractured the Republican Party on a National Scale-The explosive “MAGA death match” and race to the bottom gained new ammo after former vice president Mike Pence endorsed Karrin Taylor Robson and came to Arizona on the same day his former running mate, Donald Trump rallied for Taylor Robson’s opponent, Kari Lake. Ducey also jumped into the fray, slamming “Fake Lake” on national television and refusing to say if the RGA, which he co-chairs, will endorse Lake if she’s the nominee. As election day looms, this bitter primary race has fractured the Republican Party with opposing endorsements, name calling and once unified GOP power players now taking separate sides.
3. Lifestyles of the Rich and Wealthy–Wealthy lobbyist and developer Karrin Taylor Robson has been living lavishly on the campaign trail, according to reporting from last week. For months, Taylor Robson has been using a private jet for campaign events, and not reporting the travel on her campaign finance reports as required by law. The Taylor Robson campaign has yet to properly amend their reports as they promised.  A written statement from the campaign said that Taylor Robson and her husband will report and reimburse all travel expenses for the campaign events Taylor Robson used the jet for, but  more than a week later that still hasn’t happened.
4. Off the Rails Debate Shows No One is Ready for Prime Time-Incompetence and immaturity were on full display during the first and only GOP gubernatorial debate as Kari Lake and Karrin Taylor Robson spent the time shouting over each other and the rest of the GOP field, trading insults and focusing on anything but how they would solve real issues facing Arizona voters.  The Arizona Republic called it “an hourlong throw down” of “back-and-forth, near-constant interruptions and din of candidates speaking over one another.”
5. Fealty to Trump-Agenda, not Arizonans- It’s clear Kari Lake has always been out to win the approval of Donald Trump–Arizona voters not so much. She’s spewed out a consistent stream of 2020 election conspiracy theories and is now sowing the idea that if she loses it’s due to fraud. For her part,  Karrin Taylor Robson has also been pushing her own brand of Trump’s Big Lie. Karrin Taylor Robson continues to refuse to answer if she would’ve certified the 2020 election and claims that the 2020 election “wasn’t fair.” She also has regurgitated disproven conspiracy theories about the media and big tech companies “suppressing conservative voices.”