For Immediate Release
Thursday, August 10th, 2023
Contact: Olivia Taylor-Puckett, otpuckett@azdem.org
ICYMI: Axios: Kari Lake Prepares to Enter Arizona Senate Race

ARIZONA — On Tuesday, Axios reported that conspiracy theorist, election denier, and “glutton for punishment” Kari Lake prepares to enter Arizona Senate race. Previous reports have exposed that “Republican officials are biting their nails” at the prospect Lake will enter the Senate race.

“Lake is making Senate Republicans’ prospects in Arizona more complicated and difficult by the day,” said Olivia Taylor-Puckett, Senior Communications Advisor at the Arizona Democratic Party.

Axios: Scoop: Kari Lake prepares to enter Arizona Senate race

By Juliegrace Brufke, Hans Nichols
August 8, 2023

Key Points:

• Former Arizona GOP gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake is staffing up for a Senate campaign in anticipation of an October launch, making Arizona ground zero to replay — and relitigate — GOP losses in the last two elections.
• Lake, who has not conceded her gubernatorial loss in 2022, is one of Trump’s most ardent defenders and frequently amplifies the false election claims at the heart of the former president’s most recent indictment.
• What they’re saying: “When President Trump gets back in the White House he’s going to need fighters like Kari Lake in Washington, DC to help enact his Agenda 47,” Caroline Wren, a senior adviser to Lake, told Axios.
• “Kari Lake is seriously considering a run for the United States Senate and will be making a final decision this fall.”

Here’s what they’re saying about Kari Lake’s nightmare run for Senate:

• Fox News: Republicans worry Kari Lake…will lose Arizona Senate race again in 2024. “GOP leaders and operatives fear” that Lake’s candidacy “may bungle the party’s chance” to win.
• The Washington Post: Opinion: Republicans have a big Kari Lake problem. Kari Lake “poses massive problems for the Arizona Republican Party.”
• Wall Street Journal: Kari Lake Is Considering Senate Run, Making Some Republicans Nervous. “Kari Lake is still contesting the result of the Arizona governor race she lost. But she is now turning her attention to the state’s 2024 Senate contest, setting the stage for a political bounceback while worrying some Republicans who feel she is too extreme to win a general election.”
• POLITICO: Arizona Republicans fear they may blow it again. Lake’s candidacy is “sparking angst among Republicans” who “fear” that they will “fumble” the primary.
• The Washington Post: “There is deep concern about Lake’s viability in a general election, national Republican operatives said, given her recent statewide loss, continued focus on false election fraud claims and her unfavorable ratings.”
• National Journal: “Her hard-right views are not palatable to the Arizona electorate at large, as evidenced by her losing gubernatorial bid.”
• CNN: “Cornyn said of Lake: ‘Her recent track record doesn’t indicate that she would be successful. We need candidates who can broaden their appeal beyond the base and win a general.’”
• The Cook Political Report: Lake “looks hell-bent on running,” which “national Republican sources” have called an “unfortunate conundrum,” explaining that “it’s hard to see a scenario where Lake would lose the GOP primary — and even tougher to see one where she could win a general election.” as the party hope to avoid a repeat of 2022, which “left Republicans with weak nominees saddled with plenty of baggage and high unfavorables in states like Arizona.”
• The Washington Examiner: “a Republican strategist based in Washington who requested anonymity to speak candidly said ‘If she runs, Republicans lose. It’s that simple.’”

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