Republican Former Gov. of Arizona Will Only Support Kari Lake If She Back Tracks on False Election Claims: Just Say it Got ‘Bit Out of Control’
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Former Republican governor of Arizona, Jan Brewer, told the New York Times for a profile of Kari Lake, published Wednesday, she could only support Lake if she backtracked on claims of election fraud.
Lake, the Trump-backed, hard-right GOP candidate for governor of Arizona, has stirred controversy both at home and nationally in recent months for her attacks on late Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), allegations of rigged elections (including her own primary which she won), and vows to “fire the federal government” if she wins in November.
Brewer, who supported Karrin Taylor Robson in the GOP primary over Lake, described Lake’s primary campaign as “mean, untruthful and untethered to public policy,” reported the Times. Brewer notes she and Lake have been friends for years, dating back to Lake’s long career as a Phoenix-area news anchor.
Brewer became governor of Arizona in 2009 after President Obama appointed then Gov. Janet Napolitano (D-AZ) to his cabinet. Brewer was the secretary of state at the time and was elevated to governor as Arizona does not have a lieutenant governor.
“She went so far to the right that I don’t know if she can recover,” Brewer added, noting, “And if she can’t, we’ll have a Democratic governor.” Lake is running against current Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs.
“I want to hear her tell me she did all this because she wanted to win and that it got a little bit out of control,” Brewer added.
Outgoing GOP Arizona Governor Doug Ducey (R-AZ) endorsed Lake over the weekend after having accused her of “putting on an act” and lying about election integrity.
“As co-chairman of the Republican Governors Association, our organization is already active on the airwaves supporting Kari Lake’s candidacy. Congratulations to Kari on a hard-fought victory and to all the candidates who will be carrying the GOP banner in November,” Ducey wrote on Twitter days after Lake’s primary win over Robson.
Lake addressed the Conservative Political Action Conference over the weekend and declared that her victory drove a “Stake through the heart of the McCain Machine” in Arizona.
So @KariLake is spending her first weekend as Republican nominee for Arizona governor by driving away many of the Republicans and independents she’ll need to win in November. #AZGOV https://t.co/zybYIeUjkB
— Brahm Resnik (@brahmresnik) August 7, 2022
Arizona has moved in recent election cycles from being a reliably red state to a purple one. In 2020, Joe Biden flipped Arizona into the blue column for the first time in a presidential election since 1996 and during the Trump years, Arizona elected two Democrats to represent the state in the Senate since 1952.
As co-chairman of the Republican Governors Association, our organization is already active on the airwaves supporting Kari Lake’s candidacy. Congratulations to Kari on a hard-fought victory and to all the candidates who will be carrying the GOP banner in November. 3/
— Doug Ducey (@DougDucey) August 6, 2022
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