ARIZONA – Kari Lake’s nightmare Senate campaign continues to cause chaos for Arizona Republicans with a week of bribery allegations, resignations, and more.
Here’s what you might have missed this week:
- On Tuesday, widespread reporting indicated that Kari Lake was allegedly “offered what she viewed as a bribe by the chair of the Arizona Republican Party in an effort to keep her from running for the next two years.” The recording echoes concerns about Lake’s electability raised by national and Arizona Republicans both before and after Lake’s “less-than-welcome” entry into the Senate race.
- Tuesday evening, Lake called for the resignation of AZ GOP Chairman Jeff DeWit, after her team allegedly “threatened him with the potential release of a ‘new, more damaging recording’ unless he resigned immediately” according to the Arizona Republic.
- On Wednesday morning, following his resignation, DeWit told NBC News that “no one believes [Lake] can get across the finish line, particularly with independents.”
- On Thursday, Donald Trump pulled his appearance at the Arizona GOP’s Freedom Fest, one day after “the Arizona GOP was already thrown for a loop” by Kari Lake’s leaked audio and DeWit’s resignation.
- Soon after, the Arizona GOP canceled the entire Freedom Fest, at which Kari Lake was scheduled to speak.
- On Saturday, the Arizona GOP “floor fight is likely over electing chairman […] to replace Jeff DeWit.” The state committee meeting was made closed to press Friday morning.
The events of this week have sparked a new wave of concerns from Republicans about the viability of Lake’s Senate candidacy:
- On KJZZ, Lorna Romero Ferguson, Republican consultant, said, “A few months ago, we were talking about how she was making the attempt — and I do this in air quotes — to appeal to a broader audience and more of the moderate, centrist Republicans. This isn’t the way to do it necessarily, with this kind of narrative and these talking points. And so I’m not sure what the long-term strategy is […] I don’t think it’s going to work out for her this upcoming election cycle.”
- “Kari is toast,” one veteran Scottsdale Republican activist who requested anonymity told Newsmax. “There’s a big meeting [of party activists] Saturday. We need to get through it and then talk.”
- “While no one is defending DeWit’s actions, many Republicans in Arizona and in Washington, D.C., are questioning why this recording was leaked so publicly. ‘Why didn’t Lake just go to DeWit a year ago, tell him you have the recording, and ask him to resign behind the scenes? To put it out there, no one is covering themselves with glory here,’ said a Republican consultant with ties to Arizona who requested anonymity to speak candidly.”
- Robert Graham, AZ GOP chairman from 2013 through 2017, said “the infighting that led to DeWit’s humiliation and resignation threatens the ability of the Arizona Republican Party to do what it needs to do in 2024. This is the time when you need to have the most organized organization. But when all this happens, it’s rudderless. The ship is not pointing in any direction.”
Read more about the Arizona GOP’s chaotic week thanks to Kari Lake’s nightmare campaign:
- Arizona Republic Opinion: Kari Lake and Jeff DeWit set the Arizona GOP on self-destruct mode.
- Arizona Republic: Donald Trump cancels Phoenix visit after Kari Lake, Jeff DeWit feud. The cancellation comes one day after DeWit, the party’s chair, resigned after the release of a March 2023 audio recording in which he offered Kari Lake a lucrative job to stay out of the U.S. Senate race. Lake rejected what she characterized as a bribe.
- Vanity Fair: Leaked Audio Underscores Just How Much Republicans Don’t Want Kari Lake to Run. Simply put, Republicans want to retake the Senate; Lake does not seem to give them the best odds of doing that.
- Washington Examiner: An absolute clown show’: Arizona GOP in turmoil in wake of Kari Lake secret recording. “It makes this whole thing look like an absolute clown show, and I’m not certain why either major donors or the Senate committee, that have a lot of other ways to get to 51 seats, why this would instill a lot of confidence that Arizona is a good place to invest,” the person added.
- Newsmax Commentary: Arizona’s Secret Tape Could Ruin Kari Lake. “Kari is toast,” one veteran Scottsdale Republican activist who requested anonymity told Newsmax. “There’s a big meeting [of party activists] Saturday. We need to get through it and then talk.”
- Newsweek: Arizona Republican Party is Imploding.
- Real Clear Politics: Before Trump Visit, Kari Lake Upends Arizona GOP. “What does she want – complete and total control of the state party? Okay, but what does that get you, and at what cost, because Jeff was an ally?” asked one GOP operative. “Does anyone trust that they can have a conversation with Kari, and it won’t be broadcast or weaponized against you at a later date?”
- KTAR: Donald Trump’s appearance at Arizona GOP event in Phoenix canceled. The Arizona GOP was already thrown for a loop this week after audio leaked of Chair Jeff DeWit allegedly offering Lake a bribe in March 2023 to stay out of the race for Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s seat.
- KJZZ Friday NewsCap: Lake-DeWit tape exposes dysfunctional GOP leadership in Arizona:
- 13 News/CBS 5: Trump no longer coming to Arizona; AZGOP Freedom Fest canceled. The news also comes a day after the Chairman of the Arizona Republican Party resigned. Jeff DeWit stepped down amid pressure after a British tabloid released secretly recorded audio clips of him reportedly trying to bribe Lake to keep her from running for U.S. Senate.
- The Daily Beast: Trump Nixes Arizona Trip After GOP Chair’s Scandal-Ridden Resignation. Trump’s withdrawal comes one day after Jeff DeWit resigned as chair of the Arizona Republican Party in the wake of a bombshell tape capturing him offering senatorial hopeful and Trump ally Kari Lake a big-money job of her choosing to drop out of politics for two years.
- Wall Street Journal Editorial Board: A similar bad omen for Republicans is the GOP dysfunction in big swing states, including Arizona and Michigan. The latest is that Kari Lake secretly audiotaped the Arizona state party chair, Jeff DeWit, urging her in 2023 to skip this year’s Senate race […] the leaked tape looks like an attempt by Ms. Lake and her allies to take over the state party. What a fiasco […] Yet the GOP seems prepared to nominate the polarizing Ms. Lake, who’s again busy firing inside the tent.