“Republicans have been turned off by this MAGA extremism”
Tuesday, August 13th, 2024
ARIZONA -– This weekend, Arizonans saw Republicans and election analysts point out that “Arizona’s McCain Republicans won’t let [Kari Lake] forget” that she told them to “get the hell out” as the “question for Kari Lake” about whether she can “consolidate the Republican party in this state” remains.
Arizona Republican strategist Chuck Coughlin said the Lake campaign is “losing currently about 14% of Republican voters who were migrating over to vote for Gallego” and has an “even bigger problem” with Independents where “she trails Gallego […] by more than 15 points.”
Between last week’s anniversary of Kari Lake bragging that she “drove a stake through the heart of the McCain machine” and her “underwhelming numbers” in the primary, concerns have only deepend among Republicans that Lake’s self-serving politics and toxic agenda will “sabotage them yet again.”
WATCH:
BRAHM RESNIK on Sunday Square Off: “But Lake’s 2022 defeat in the race for governor reveals she needs to be doing more outreach in her own party. Kari Lake might never live this down.”
Kari Lake: “We drove a stake through the heart of the McCain machine.”
RESNIK: “Arizona’s McCain Republicans won’t let her forget.”
BETTINA NAVA, Former McCain Staffer: “Kari Lake is the GOP Senate nominee, and let me be clear, she does not represent me, and there are a lot of us that are out here […]”
RESNIK: “But Lake’s 17 thousand vote defeat in the 2022 governor’s race against Democrat Katie Hobbs shows Lake’s the one who needs to be wooing Republicans.”
SAM ALMY: “A lot of Republicans have been turned off by this MAGA extremism.”
RESNIK: “Election data analyst Sam Almy says Lake can’t afford to write off any voters in what’s expected to be a tight race.”
ALMY: “You need every single vote. You do not want to turn off a large base.”
RESNIK: “Lake’s shortcomings were obvious in 2022. The top GOP vote getter statewide wasn’t Lake. It was State Treasurer Kimberly Yee. Yee’s a more conventional conservative Republican. Lake was far behind Yee in key swing districts and also in ruby red areas home to military veterans.”
RESNIK: “But in a recent interview, Lake said she’s not backing away from her far right agenda. ‘I honestly believe that the America First agenda is the greatest way for people in the middle.’ That’s what Lake told Punchbowl News. The first independent poll since the Arizona primary shows Gallego leading Lake by 11 points.”
MATTHEW BENSON, Republican Political Consultant, on Politics Unplugged: “The question for Kari Lake is, can she consolidate the Republican party in this state? Okay. That has been her challenge. That was her challenge two years ago. She continues to face that challenge now. Can she bring McCain Republicans onto the team and that’s going to be, I mean, that’s up to her. Like she’s got to, she’s got to close the deal or else if she doesn’t, this isn’t going to be a very close race.”
KTAR NEWSCASTER: “Congressman and U.S. Senate hopeful Ruben Gallego continues to highlight support he’s receiving from prominent Arizona Republicans. Valley political strategist Chuck Coughlin with High Ground says it spells trouble for opponent Kari Lake.”
COUGHLIN: “Yeah , the Lake campaign does have a problem with losing currently about 14% of Republican voters who were migrating over to vote for Gallego.”
KTAR NEWSCASTER: “Coughlin points out that Lake has an even bigger problem when it comes to independent and unaffiliated voters. He says she trails Gallego right now by more than 15 points in that category.”