For Immediate Release
Tuesday, October 17th, 2023
Contact: Olivia Taylor-Puckett, otpuckett@azdem.org
ICYMI: One Week After Campaign Launch, “Kari Lake Can’t Win a General Election”
“No one is better than Kari Lake at alienating Republicans.”
ARIZONA -– One week after Kari Lake, “Arizona’s never-ending nightmare”, launched her campaign for the U.S. Senate, Republicans continue to raise the alarm that when Lake runs, “Republicans lose. It’s that simple.”
Republicans are “freaking out” that Kari Lake’s candidacy will “set the stage for critical losses the GOP can’t afford.”
Read more coverage of Kari Lake’s “nightmare” campaign launch:
- 12 News Sunday Square Off: Matt Benson, Republican Consultant: “…There’s two plus years of record that’s going to come back at her in TV ads and what not from everything she said during the last cycle, including telling McCain Republicans like myself to get the hell out. So that’s gonna be, look, you can’t just snap your fingers and disappear it.”
- Politics Unplugged: Barrett Marson, Republican: “Kari Lake’s popularity has decreased since 2022. To which I always say it’s probably because she spends more time at Mar-a-Largo and Bedminster than Arizona.”
- Washington Examiner’s Zachary Faria: The GOP should prioritize winning over loser retreads. “That is the lesson Republicans need to learn and have thus far continued to prove they won’t. Nominating […] Arizona loser Kari Lake for Senate set the stage for critical losses the GOP can’t afford, and yet that is the path Republicans are continuing to walk down.”
- The Gaydos and Chad Show’s Larry Gaydos: “No one is better than Kari Lake at alienating Republicans. No one is better than Kari Lake at alienating a large number of independent voters […] Kari Lake can’t win a general election. She’s kryptonite to general elections. She’s a joke. So, I mean, guess if you want to vote for her. Go ahead. I just thought Republicans wanted to win this time around.”
- Arizona Republic’s Laurie Roberts: “The Kari Lake Try-Try Again Tour launches on Tuesday evening as Arizona’s self-proclaimed ‘real governor’ kicks off her continuing campaign to get elected to something (anything?) […] History suggests Lake is on her way to becoming a two-time loser…”
- ABC 15 Arizona Family: “‘She has an even bigger job to just tell everyone who she can be. We already know who she is, and the voters rejected her once,’ said Republican political consultant Barrett Marson.”
- 12 News: “‘People chose not to vote for her,’ said Chuck Coughlin, a longtime political consultant at HighGround Consulting in Phoenix and adviser to Republican governors.”
- Tucson Sentinel’s Blake Morlock: “Way-too-early polling shows moderate Republicans h-a-a-a-a-a-t-e this woman […] She’s told Democrats, moderate Republicans and one can only assume moderate independents that she hates them.”
- New York Times: “One Lake adviser described being surprised by the level of ‘freaking out’ by Washington Republicans.”
- Reuters: “Some establishment Republicans have fretted that if she wins the nomination, her fiery, hard-right, election-denier stances might not sit well with some of the state’s voters.”
- Politico: “‘I don’t think she has any prospect of actually being elected,’ said Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah). ‘The people of Arizona are smarter than that.’”
- MSNBC: “Republican insiders wanted an electable Senate nominee with broad appeal in Arizona. They’re likely to get election denier Kari Lake instead.”
###