In the months leading up to the GOP showdown, much was made about the fact that Kari Lake, the former Phoenix TV anchor, was endorsed by Donald Trump, while her biggest rival, Karrin Taylor Robson, had been endorsed by Mike Pence.
So in the Republican primary that has been viewed as a proxy battle between Trump and Pence, Lake was declared the winner on Thursday. She now goes on to face Democrat Katie Hobbs in November.
Rob Chambers, vice president of AFA Action, believes a majority of Republican voters still support Trump's contention about voter fraud in the 2020 election, and that likely played in Lake's favor.
"Kari Lake has said that she would not have certified the 2020 presidential election," Chambers notes. "People in Arizona know of the stories of election fraud, illegal voting in the state of Arizona, and so it's very clear that the voters in Arizona have latched on to that political narrative there."
He submits the issue that the 2020 election was stolen is not a "dead narrative," at least not in The Grand Canyon State.
Chambers goes on to add that Lake's victory should send a message to the former vice president, who refused to support the president on January 6, 2021.
"When you look at this race in Arizona, it's really predictive of how the 2024 presidential election would play out in terms of getting out the grassroots conservative voters in support of Trump over someone like Pence," the AFA Action vice president concludes.
Chambers told AFN in May that he suspected Pence was attempting to use a Republican feud in Georgia to gain some traction for a 2024 run for the White House.
Editor's Note: AFA Action is an affiliate of the American Family Association, the parent organization of the American Family News Network, which operates AFN.net.
