For Immediate Release
Tuesday, July 5, 2022
Contact: Josselyn Berry, jberry@azdem.org
FOUR WEEKS OUT: What to know about the “Contentious”,  “Cringe-worthy” and  “Raucous”  GOP Gubernatorial Primary

PHOENIX- Ballots for Arizona’s primary election officially drop today and with only four weeks until Arizona’s primary election, the GOP race for governor has only grown more unhinged and embarrassing.  The chaos was on full display during the first and only GOP gubernatorial debate last week, where the candidates spent more time hurling insults and conspiracy theories than discussing how they would solve real issues that matter to Arizona voters.  And now that Matt Salmon has dropped out of the race, Kari Lake and Karrin Taylor Robson are in a race to the bottom to prove who’s the more right-wing choice for primary voters.

Four Takeaways Four Weeks Out from the GOP Primary: 

1. A Slim Lead Is Hers To Lose– Kari Lake is Still in the Lead-Kari Lake is still leading the Republican primary as wealthy lobbyist Karrin Taylor Robson attempts to close the gap before August 2nd. However, undecided Republican primary voters make up over 30% of the field, leading Lake and Taylor Robson to fire off more incendiary attacks in a race to the bottom.
2. 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 that matter to 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.”
3. Fealty to Trump, 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 hosting a rally with Trump on July 16th. For her part,  Karrin Taylor Robson has also been pushing her own brand of the 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.”
4. Despite Abortion Being Popular in Arizona, Both Candidates Want To Ban It–Both leading candidates said they support and would enforce Arizona’s 1864, pre-Roe and statehood ban on abortion, which would prohibit the procedure in nearly all cases, at all stages, and would criminalize and imprison doctors who perform it. Kari Lake and Karrin Taylor Robson both took it a step further and said they’d also ban abortion pills, which are proven safe and effective.  This is a flip flop for Karrin Taylor Robson, who previously claimed she supports exemptions for rape and incest, but during the GOP debate, said she supports the pre-Roe law that offers neither.

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