Kari Lake's absence of governing experience and decades of daily TV experience make her a perfect match for aspects of this political moment.
Dems fear Kari Lake will be Arizona's governor, and a major MAGA star
Former President Trump with Kari Lake at a rally in Arizona. Photo: Mario Tama/Getty Images
✓ Democratic Party strategists are watching Arizona's Kari Lake with growing alarm.
Why it matters: As some see it, Lake — a 2020 election denier — could easily win the state's gubernatorial race and threaten its 2024 election processes.
Zoom in: Of this year's midterm elections slate of "ultra MAGA" candidates, Lake has perhaps the best chance of winning.
- The polls are neck-and-neck. Some Democrats are venting frustration that Katie Hobbs is not presenting a stronger challenge to Lake. Hobbs has refused to debate Lake, which some say signals fear and amounts to "political malpractice."
What they're saying: David Plouffe, the architect of Barack Obama's 2008 victory, told Axios that Lake looks like a "plausible presidential candidate."
- David Axelrod, another key former Obama adviser, offered this assessment of Lake's 20+ years in Arizona local TV before her entrance last year into politics: "If you get a candidate who has the performance skills of a major market local TV anchor and the philosophy and thinking of Steve Bannon, that's a potent and dangerous combination ... Look at Italy."
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Former President Donald Trump's advisers view Lake as the most politically potent of the "stop the steal" candidates. She is every bit as hardcore an election denier as Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano, but infinitely more suited to the age of social media videos and quick TV hits.
- Lake is skilled at creating viral moments by dressing down reporters and eviscerating the mainstream media.
- The 53-year-old former news anchor left journalism altogether in 2021, saying she didn't like how much media has changed since she started.
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Behind the scenes: Lake has other advantages that are less visible. Unlike Mastriano, she has been embraced by top figures in the Republican establishment. She is benefiting from their money and connections.
- Doug Ducey, Arizona's outgoing GOP governor and chair of the Republican Governors Association, opposed Lake in her primary. But now, he's backing her with great energy.
- Lake has also charmed Arizona GOP donors, including members of the state's political establishment, according to sources who have witnessed the interactions.
- In private meetings and on calls with donors, RGA officials have made clear they are prepared to spend aggressively to get Lake across the finish line. "Voters have a clear choice and we're confident they'll make Kari Lake their next governor," RGA spokesman Jesse Hunt told Axios.
Between the lines: If Lake wins the governorship, Democrats anticipate that her future endorsements will be sought after, that she will be giving fiery speeches around the country, and that she will have a standing invitation on Fox News.
- Her absence of governing experience and decades of daily TV experience make her a perfect match for aspects of this political moment.
- "That's what's changed a lot in our politics. There's a performance aspect to it in both parties," Plouffe said.
- "Obama and Trump accelerated that change in many respects, which is that you don't have to sit around for 20 years building your case," he said. "If you've got something compelling to say and you can organize a campaign online, you're a plausible presidential candidate."
The bottom line: Former senior Hillary Clinton adviser Karen Finney said Lake represents "a more polished version" of MAGA.
- "I'm sure a big part of why Trump likes her is that TV experience," Finney said. (Fact check: True!) "In the same way he understood how to use media and avoid questions that he didn't want to answer, she certainly has that."
The other side: “Kari Lake is all spectacle and no substance and we’re confident voters will see right through it," said Josselyn Berry, a spokesperson for the Arizona Democratic Party."
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ADDED RELATED CONTENT (Wikipedia)
Media Career
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In 2018, she opposed the Red for Ed movement, which sought more funding for education through strikes and protests, claiming that movement was a "big push to legalize pot"; she later apologized for the statement (saying that she "made an incorrect conclusion")[3][20] and, according to the station's regional human resources director, subsequently took an unexpected month-long leave from her position at the station.[10] In July 2019, Lake was caught on "hot mic" footage promoting her account on the web platform Parler.[10] She shared COVID-19 misinformation on Twitter and Facebook in April 2020.[10] Lake's statements and actions made her a divisive figure among colleagues in her last years at the station.[10]
In March 2021, she announced her departure from KSAZ, one day after FTVLive, a television news industry site, published a video clip of Lake at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Orlando; the website questioned whether Lake was there as a journalist or as a member of a movement.[3] In June 2021, she announced her campaign for governor.[3]
Party switches
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Lake was a member of the Republican Party until November 3, 2006,[21] when she changed her registration to become an independent. She registered as a Democrat on January 4, 2008, the day after the Iowa Democratic presidential caucuses were won by Obama.[21]
Lake returned to being a Republican on January 31, 2012. She explained
her leaving the Republican Party in 2006 as a reaction to the
then-ongoing Iraq and Afghanistan wars. She had supported John Kerry in 2004 and Barack Obama in 2008.[21] She also made several donations to Democratic presidential candidates.[21][22] After launching her campaign for governor in 2021, Lake cited Trump, Ronald Reagan, and Arizona Republican Party chair Kelli Ward, all former Democrats, as precedent for her party-switching.[23]
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