Kari Lake.Photo: Kari Lake/Facebook
The race to be Arizona’s next governor got two opposing candidates this week.
Incumbent Doug Ducey is term limited from seeking re-election and the state, which has become increasingly favorable to Democrats after years of voting for Republicans, is poised to be a major battleground next year.
Joining the so-far short list of candidates is Kari Lake and state official Katie Hobbs.
Lake, a former Phoenix news anchor for KSAZ, made headlines earlier this year for a video in which she lambasted the way, she said, that journalism had changed in recent years.
Now she’s entering politics — announcing her run for governor on Tuesday.
She said in a campaign video that she was launching her bid “because Arizona has problems and it’s time we got serious about solving them.”
She does not mention her political affiliation in her video or on her website, though a statement of interest filed Tuesday indicates that she willrun as a Republican, according to theArizona Republic.
The paper reported that the former anchor previously made appearances at right-wing events in which other speakers touted former PresidentDonald Trump’s baseless claims that the November election, which he lost, was rigged or stolen from him.
A photo of Lake interviewing Trump is currently displayed as her profile photo onTwitter.
Lakeleft her Phoenix news station in March, after 22 years, releasing a two-and-a-half minute video in which she said the media needs more “balance,” adding, “In the last few years I haven’t felt proud to be a member of the media.”
In her gubernatorial announcement video, Lake also criticized her former industry, saying “the media just keeps pushing fear and division.”
On the other end of the political spectrum, Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs — a Democrat who drew much Republican scorn for defending the state’s elections last year from evidence-free allegations of widespread fraud — alsoannounced her bid for governorthis week.
Hobbs has continued to be in the spotlight of late, as her state undergoes yet another GOP-led audit of the ballots cast in the 2020 presidential election.
In a video announcing her campaign, she sought a contrast between herself and those who support the efforts of the so-called “stop the steal” movement.
“The other side isn’t offering policies to make our lives better,” Hobbs says as footage shows Trump supporters waving flags as the Arizona audit takes place. “They’re offering conspiracies that only make our lives worse.”
In an interview with theRepublic, Hobbs criticized the state’s leadership, calling them “conspiracy theorists” who are “out of touch.”
She was ultimately declared the winner six days later, after the state finished counting all of its ballots.
source: people.com
