10 Nov 30th–Dec 6th, 2023 phoenixnewtimes.com phoenix new Times | NEWS | FEATURE | FOOD & DRINK | ARTS & CULTURE | MUSIC | CONCERTS | CANNABIS | Anywhere But Arizona Kari Lake has been spending a lot of time campaigning — just not in Arizona. BY TJ L’HEUREUX K ari Lake’s campaign to repre- sent Arizona in the U.S. Senate has been underway for a month, but the former TV anchor has been busy campaigning everywhere but the Grand Canyon State. In the first month since launching her campaign on Oct. 10, Lake has been spotted making the rounds at eight different events. Only two of those events were in Arizona. On Oct. 18, Lake was at her first Arizona post-launch event in Tucson, appearing with state Sen. Wendy Rogers — one of the only politicians to make Lake seem comparatively sane. Then again, it’s a pretty low bar. In 2022, Rogers was censured by the Arizona Legislature after remarks at the America First Political Action Conference in Orlando. During her speech, she called for the state to build “more gallows” in order to hang political enemies, “traitors” and “high-level criminals.” But after gaining nearly $2.5 million in donations from out-of-state supporters, it appears she wasn’t alone in her convictions. Lake seems to be following in Rogers’ footsteps after trying to incite her followers to commit violent acts against Trump’s prosecutors and political opponents. In Lake’s second Tucson appearance on Oct. 20, this time at the Arizona Federation of Republican Women Biennial Convention, she met up with fellow 2022 election sore loser Abe Hamadeh and U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs, a loyal backbench supporter of Trump who asked for a pardon after the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol. Phoenix New Times asked the Lake campaign whether she had campaigned at more events in Arizona, but a spokesperson refrained from giving a direct answer. ‘We’ve got one year to save this country’ After dropping her first pseudo-country track, “81 Million Votes, My Ass,” on June 2 and spending a significant amount of time at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club, it seemed like Lake was living her best life. But as she revealed at her campaign launch, she has sacrificed a lot. “While it would be real fun to go back to my past life where things were easy and I would plan vacations with my family and we would do fun stuff, we’ve got one year to save this country,” Lake said. Luckily for Lake, she’s had a lot of great opportunities to see the country, escape Arizona and not meet its voters. During the first month of her campaign, Lake has been traveling to plenty of exciting destinations. Here are some of the great places Lake has been jet-setting to recently: • Las Vegas, Oct. 21: Lake was a speaker at CPAC’s Save America Dinner alongside noted right-wing provocateur and former Trump advisor Steve Bannon, who was arrested for fraud, pardoned by Trump and then indicted on state charges. • Lubbock, Texas, Oct. 27: Lake headlined a gala for an antiabortion group whose president said, “Abortion is murder, plain and simple.” The event happened days after Lubbock County commis- sioners passed a tyrannical law aimed at stopping women from leaving the county for abortions and allowing vigi- lante citizens to assist. It seems Lake is stuck between sticking to an extremist stance on abortion and moderating her message on it, which she tried during her campaign launch. • Palm Beach, Florida, Nov. 1: Lake attended a premiere at Mar-a-Lago for a new documentary by Dinesh D’Souza, who was pardoned by Trump in 2018 and later made “2000 Mules,” a film filled with unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud during the 2020 election. “2000 Mules” helped make election denial conspiracies more mainstream and made D’Souza a pretty penny, collecting $10 million in revenue in the first two weeks. • Colorado, Nov. 4: Lake headlined a Colorado GOP fundraising dinner. • Las Vegas (again), Nov. 7: She just couldn’t get enough of Sin City, speaking at an event and recording an interview for Steve Bannon’s podcast. • Hialeah, Florida, Nov. 8: She signed books at a Trump rally. Kari Lake launched her U.S. Senate campaign with the help of former President Donald Trump at the Scottsdale headquarters of Jetset Magazine. Since, she’s spent time campaigning out of stae. (Photo by TJ L’Heureux) | NEWS |
