Primary Night Results Showed A “‘Deep Division’ Among Republican Voters Who Are Turned Off By” Kari Lake

ARIZONA -– In the ten days since Kari Lake’s “very disappointing,” “embarrassingly close race,” concerns have deepend among Republicans that Lake’s plan to “double down on MAGA — not back away” will “sabotage them yet again.”

This week’s anniversary of Kari Lake bragging that she “drove a stake through the heart of the McCain machine” and her “underwhelming numbers” in the primary serve as a reminder that Lake’s power-hungry politics and dangerous agenda have alienated Arizonans. 

LISTEN:

KTAR Primary Night Panel: BARRY MARKSON: “She only has about 53.3% of the Republican vote, most everybody was saying if she got below 65%, 60% that would be a bad showing. Dr. Mike O’Neil, the 53%, if this holds up, 55%, that’s not a good look for somebody like Kari Lake who was supposed to run away with this.” MIKE O’NEIL: “I think I would characterize that as a very disappointing win, and indicative of somebody who’s probably going into November as a very weak candidate.”

KTAR Primary Election Special: BARRY MARKSON: “It was much smaller than she said it would be, Kari Lake said she’d win by 30 points. That did not happen, not even close. She won by 10. She only picked up about 55% of the Republican vote and I want to really stress this. This is not 55% of the vote overall….  These are Kari Lake’s people. That’s the point I’m trying to make. That the Republicans who voted in the primary yesterday are Kari Lake’s people and she only received 55% of the vote. That has to be worrisome. If you’re in Kari Lake’s campaign, or if you’re a Kari Lake supporter, you have to be concerned about that.”

WATCH:

13 News Politics Unplugged: Republican MARCUS DELL’ARTINO: “I will tell you that there is cause for concern. Within the Republican party, everybody’s a little bit worried about those folks coming home.”

12 News Sunday Square Off: Republican MARCUS DELL’ARTINO: “Not an expected number… I think everybody expected a much higher margin coming out of that race.”

CBS 5: ANCHOR: “Even though she is advancing to November’s general election, we talked, and wanted to know more about what this means for her and if Republicans should be concerned. Political analyst Marcus Dell’Artino talks a little bit about Lake’s potential vulnerability in the November general election.” MARCUS DELL’ARTINO: “There are some concerns, I think, going into the general election…”

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Punchbowl News: Kari Lake’s risky bet: Double down on MAGA. “The GOP Senate nominee in Arizona is rejecting the notion that she needs to shed her reputation as a MAGA warrior in order to win in a state where disaffected Republicans and right-leaning independents have propelled Democrats to narrow victories in recent statewide elections…. Lake won her primary last week, but by a closer-than-expected margin, leading Democrats to question whether Republicans will ultimately unify behind her.”

Jewish Insider’s Josh Kraushaar: “Sign of weakness — that the McCain Republicans aren’t coming back and she needs to win on Trump’s coattails and rally the right-wing base.”

Northeast Valley News: Valley poll: “I’m so sick of Kari Lake” fan club—still growing. “But Lake, forever the Trump loyalist, has consistently adopted the unevidenced election denier stance over and over again and many Arizonans are annoyed.”

Capitol Media Services: Election analysts say there’s a ‘deep division’ among Republican voters who are turned off by Kari Lake. “While Lake’s campaign called the victory where she tallied 55% of the vote versus Lamb’s 39% as ‘decisive,’’ two well-known political operatives say that’s not the case. ‘Nothing could be further from the truth,’ said Barrett Marson, a longtime Republican political consultant… Instead, the results showed ‘a deep division’ among Republican voters who are turned off by her, [Chuck] Coughlin said. ‘You have 40% of Republican voters bailing on you,‘ he said. ‘That’s not a good sign going into a very competitive general election in 100 days,’ said Coughlin, who was a key advisor to former Gov. Jan Brewer, has ran a host of Arizona political campaigns and worked for the late Sen. John McCain in the 1980s.”

Arizona Republic: Kari Lake defeats Mark Lamb in Arizona’s closely watched GOP Senate primary. “Kari Lake won the U.S. Senate nomination for Republicans as expected on Tuesday, but unofficial results suggest a far narrower victory over Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb than her campaign touted two weeks before voting began… If the final margins stay well below the 30-percentage point difference Lake’s campaign cited in mid-June, it could deepen longstanding concerns among Republicans in Arizona and nationally that she cannot defeat Democrat Ruben Gallego in November.”

Arizona Republic: “Lake held a sizeable overnight lead over Lamb, but one that was significantly smaller than her own campaign predicted. It raised a question as she faces Democrat Ruben Gallego in November: Does Lake need to make amends with Republican voters to win their support, and win the Senate seat?”

The Independent: MAGA Republican and Trump loyalist Kari Lake wins Arizona senate primary.“While Lake had long been the favorite, Lamb still managed to pull in around 40 percent of the vote – a sign that Lake’s far-right stance could be alienating more moderate conservatives in the state.”

Arizona GOP Consultant Tyler Montague: “Kari Lake’s negatives on display in her embarrassingly close race. She was always going to win, but a lot of people on the right sent her a message. Her general election race will be fought in the middle, and she’ll have to fight for the votes of people she has alienated.”

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.”

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

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.”

Arizona Republic Opinion: Kari Lake wins, but alarm bells should be ringing wildly at GOP headquarters. “To no one’s surprise, 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…’Lake’s underwhelming numbers are a bad sign for her general election,’ Republican consultant Tyler Montague told me… Alarm bells should be ringing wildly over the fact that nearly four out of 10 Republican primary voters voted for the guy who barely had a campaign.”

The Hill: 5 early takeaways from Arizona’s primaries. “Lake received 53 percent of the vote to Lamb’s 41 percent with 63 percent of the estimated vote reported as of early Wednesday morning, raising questions over whether the sheriff’s supporters will ultimately migrate to her in November… But the former local news anchor has in many ways run as the same conservative firebrand that she ran as in 2022, and some of those previously skeptical of her remain unconvinced about her candidacy.”