Just four days before GOP Senate primary, GOP donor says, “I have tried to help (Lake) and worked on this, and apparently cannot overcome it,” sounding alarm on Lake’s extremism

Friday, July 26th, 2024

ARIZONA -– Yesterday, the Washington Post, followed by Phoenix New Times and Arizona Republic Opinion, reported that one of Arizona’s top GOP donors told her network that Republican Senate candidate Kari Lake “cannot win the general election” – not exactly what you would want to hear just days before your primary election.   

This follows previous reporting from the Arizona Republic, The New York Times, Washington Post, NBC News, Politico, Business Insider, and National Review, that have all revealed that Republicans have been raising the alarm about Lake’s candidacy for months. Kari Lake’s efforts to gain power, stay in the “limelight,” support for banning abortion, calls for violence in the lead up to the 2024 election, and campaigning under a confederate flag are all part of her toxic agenda, underscoring that even Republicans know Lake is too extreme for Arizona.  

Read more:

Washington Post: Arizona GOP donor mobilizing against Kari Lake, who she says ‘cannot win’

By Amy B Wang and Yvonne Wingett Sanchez

July 25, 2024

Key Points:

• Randy Kendrick — a conservative activist who is one of Arizona’s top GOP donors and is married to the owner of the Arizona Diamondbacks — sent an email to her entire “Christmas card list” telling them that Republican Senate candidate Kari Lake “cannot win the general election” in Arizona.

• “I have tried to help [Lake] and worked on this, and apparently cannot overcome it,” Kendrick wrote in the email obtained by The Washington Post. “There is no time for blame or analysis. These are just the facts.”

• Kendrick instead urged them to vote for Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb in Tuesday’s Republican primary.

• “I am trying to make more people aware of Lamb because, according to our polls, if people are made aware of him they prefer him over Lake and certainly over [Arizona Democratic Rep. Ruben] Gallego,” Kendrick wrote. “Yes it is late, but I am trying!”

• Kendrick in 2016 worked to mobilize conservative donors against Donald Trump, and in 2022 donated to political action committees that took on Lake when the former news anchor was running for Arizona governor. Lake lost the gubernatorial race to now-Gov. Katie Hobbs (D).

• Kendrick stood by her letter in an interview with The Post…

Arizona Republic Opinion: Major Arizona GOP donor says Kari Lake ‘cannot win.’ That’s going to sting

By EJ Montini

July 25, 2024

Key Points:

• Ouch.

• I mean, really … OUCH.

• One of the most well-known, most generous and most plugged-in Republican financial backers in Arizona, Randy Kendrick, wife of the Arizona Diamondbacks owner, told a great big bunch of her GOP pals that former news reader and U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake “cannot win.”

• And she did so in writing.

• Oh my, that is gonna leave a mark.

• As reported by Amy B. Wang and Yvonne Wingett Sanchez of The Washington Post, Kendrick sent an email to her entire “Christmas card list” trying to sway support away from Lake to Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb prior to Tuesday’s primary election.

• Kendrick is convinced Lake will lose in the general election.

• Her email said, “I have tried to help (Lake) and worked on this, and apparently cannot overcome it. There is no time for blame or analysis. These are just the facts.”

• She added, “I am trying to make more people aware of Lamb because, according to polls, if people are made aware of him they prefer him over Lake and certainly over (Democratic Rep. Ruben) Gallego. Yes it is late, but I am trying!”

• And she’s succeeding, too.

• At least, in giving Lake an tremendous owie.

Phoenix New Times: Kari Lake is cooked, says Arizona GOP megadonor: report

By TJ L’Heureux

July 25, 2024

Key Points:

• Kari Lake is toast, at least according to a conservative Arizona megadonor.

• On Thursday, The Washington Post published an email authored by Randy Kendrick, the wife of Diamondbacks owner Ken Kendrick and a board member of the Goldwater Institute. Sent to what the Post called Kendrick’s entire “Christmas card list,” the email urged her inner circle to support Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb over Lake in the Republican U.S. Senate primary.

• The reason, according to Kendrick: Lake, the newscaster-turned-MAGA fanatic “cannot win the general election” against the likely Democratic nominee, U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego.

• “I have tried to help (Lake) and worked on this, and apparently cannot overcome it,” Kendrick wrote in the email, according to the Post. “There is no time for blame or analysis. These are just the facts.”

• Lake is widely expected to cruise to a primary win when voting closes on Tuesday. But Kendrick believes Lamb, whose profile among Republicans is much lower than Lake’s, might be a better candidate to go head-to-head with Gallego.

• “I am trying to make more people aware of Lamb because, according to our polls, if people are made aware of him they prefer him over Lake and certainly over Gallego,” Kendrick wrote. “Yes it is late, but I am trying!”

• Lake campaign spokesperson Alex Nicoll did not respond to a request for comment from Phoenix New Times.

• Lake does seem to be fighting a losing battle against Gallego. The Democratic lawmaker has raised far more money than Lake has and is consistently outpolling her. In April, the Post reported that Trump had ruled out Lake as a vice president candidate due to her loss in Arizona’s 2022 gubernatorial election and that GOP strategists doubted her chances against Gallego in the Senate race…