WHAT THEY’RE SAYING: Kari Lake’s “Disappointing” Primary Performance “Speaks to Her Underlying Weaknesses as a Candidate in November”

Following Kari Lake’s “underwhelming” performance in the Arizona Senate Republican primary, reporting is detailing how her “disappointing” performance “speaks to her underlying weaknesses as a candidate in November,” and even Arizona Republicans are commenting it’s “a bad sign for her general election.”

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING

Cook Political Report: “Lake’s 55%-39% win over an under-funded opponent speaks to her underlying weaknesses as a candidate in November.”
By Erin Covey, Jessica Taylor, and Amy Walter
July 31, 2024

• Kari Lake, the 2022 gubernatorial nominee, won the GOP Senate nomination with 55% of the vote, but the 39% that Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb took without spending any money on TV underscores the key weaknesses Lake has heading into a general election. 

• Lake has problems with moderate Republicans who for years backed the late Sen. John McCain, and she’s struggled to rein in her hardcore MAGA rhetoric and election denialism (including still pursuing legal challenges claiming she won her race for governor) to appeal to them.

• Lake also rubbed some conservatives the wrong way when she made a secret recording of the Arizona GOP chairman suggesting she shouldn’t run for Senate, leading to his resignation, and was subsequently booed at the state party convention. 

• Her brash tactics and struggles to moderate are reasons top national Republicans are wary of their chances in Arizona.

Arizona Republic: Kari Lake wins, but alarm bells should be ringing wildly at GOP headquarters
By Laurie Roberts
July 31, 2024

• Kari Lake won her U.S. Senate primary, but she isn’t posting anywhere near the numbers she needed to show she’s a contender in November.

• With a large swath of the votes counted, the underfunded, hardly noticed Lamb had 39% of the vote. Lake stood at 55% on early Wednesday — a disappointing number given that she was the presumptive Republican nominee even before she announced she was running for the Senate last year and endorsed by Trump soon after.

• Lake needed 60% of the GOP vote to show the D.C. money crowd that she can be competitive. 

• “Lake’s underwhelming numbers are a bad sign for her general election,” Republican consultant Tyler Montague told me.

Axios’ Stephen Neukam: “The NRSC and the GOP put their thumbs on the scale to back Kari Lake, but her Republican challenger Mark Lamb got nearly *40%* of the vote. Should be some alarm bells going off in the Lake operation.”
July 31, 2024

NBC News’ Sahil Kapur: “Lake’s margin in her primary is notable — not exactly a blowout.”
July 30, 2024

Washington Examiner’s Samantha-Jo Roth: “This GOP primary for Senate between Kari Lake and Mark Lamb is much closer than most expected, which could spell larger problems for Republicans in the Grand Canyon State.”
July 30, 2024

See also: DSCC Releases New Digital Ad on Kari Lake: “Power Hungry.”

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