Kari Lake

Early life and education

Kari Lake was born in 1969, in Rock Island, Illinois, to Larry and Sheila Lake, who were natives of the Wisconsin communities of Richland and Appleton. Larry taught social studies and was a basketball and football coach at North Scott High School, while Sheila was a nurse. Kari is the youngest of nine children.

Lake grew up in Iowa. She graduated from North Scott Senior High School in Eldridge, Iowa, and then received a BA in communications and journalism from the University of Iowa.

Media career

In May 1991, Lake began working as an intern at KWQC-TV in Davenport, Iowa, while attending the University of Iowa. She later became production assistant before joining WHBF-TV in Rock Island to be a daily reporter and weekend weathercaster in 1992. In August 1994, Lake was hired by KPNX in Phoenix, Arizona, to be the weekend weather anchor; her sister was working in Phoenix at the time, and her parents had retired there. She later became evening anchor at KPNX before relocating to work for WNYT in Albany, New York in the summer of 1998 when she replaced Chris Kapostasy.

Lake returned to Arizona in 1999 and became an evening anchor for KSAZ-TV (Fox 10 Phoenix). While at KSAZ, Lake interviewed President Barack Obama in 2016 and President Donald Trump in 2020.

In her last years working in the media, Lake shared false and unverified information on social media, prompting criticism and acquiring a reputation as a provocateur. and, according to the station's regional human resources director, subsequently took an unexpected month-long leave from her position at the station. In July 2019, Lake was caught on "hot mic" footage promoting her account on the web platform Parler. She shared COVID-19 misinformation on Twitter and Facebook in April 2020. Lake's statements and actions made her a divisive figure among colleagues in her last years at the station.

In March 2021, she announced her departure from KSAZ, one day after FTVLive, a television news industry website, published a video clip of Lake at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Orlando, Florida; the website questioned whether Lake was there as a journalist or as a member of a movement. In June 2021, she announced her campaign for governor.

Political career

Party switches

Lake was a member of the Republican Party until November 3, 2006, when she changed her registration to become an independent. She registered as a Democrat on January 4, 2008, the day after the Iowa Democratic presidential caucuses were won by Obama. After launching her campaign for governor in 2021, Lake cited Trump, Ronald Reagan, and Arizona Republican Party chair Kelli Ward, all former Democrats, as precedent for her party-switching.

2022 gubernatorial run

Main article: 2022 Arizona gubernatorial election

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Lake filed paperwork in June 2021 to seek the Republican nomination for governor of Arizona in the 2022 election to succeed incumbent governor Doug Ducey, who was term-limited. Four candidates sought the Republican nomination: Lake; former real estate developer and Arizona Board of Regents member Karrin Taylor Robson; Paola Tulliani Zen, and Scott Neely. Lake and Robson were the front-runners, leading in polling and fundraising. A fifth Republican candidate, ex-congressman Matt Salmon, dropped out of the race after trailing in polls and endorsed Robson.

Throughout her campaign, Lake was described as "a champion of the far-right" movement in the United States. Lake received Donald Trump's endorsement in September 2021. The primary was seen as a "battle" between Republicans aligned with Trump and establishment Republicans. Robson was supported by figures such as former Vice President Mike Pence, governor Ducey, and former New Jersey governor Chris Christie. By the end of 2021, Lake had raised $1.4 million from 12,000 sources. Lake centered her campaign on promoting the false claim that the 2020 presidential election in Arizona and nationwide was "rigged and stolen"; Boris Epshteyn, a former Trump White House aide who promoted Trump's efforts to overturn the election results, attributed her victory in the Republican primary, despite being "outspent 10-to-1," to that stance. Lake won the Republican primary in Arizona on August 2, 2022, winning in all counties.

After winning the Republican primary, Lake said that "we're all big boys and big girls", urging people to "come together"; however, within a week of that victory, Lake said: "We drove a stake through the heart of the McCain machine". Later in early November, Lake participated in a campaign event where she told "McCain Republicans" to "get the hell out!" Lake also called the traditional Republican Party "the party of McCain", and then stated: "Boy, Arizona has delivered some losers, haven't they?" Her statements were in contrast to her past description of John McCain (Arizona's former Republican senator) four years earlier, after his death, as "courageous", "a war hero, icon and a force to be reckoned with".

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Katie Hobbs refused to debate Lake during the election. However, both attended a gubernatorial candidate forum in September 2022, held by the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry, where they separately answered questions.

On November 7, 2022, Lake's campaign stated that on November 6, a campaign staffer "opened an envelope delivered to our campaign office that contained suspicious white powder. It was one of two envelopes that were confiscated by law enforcement" for testing. On November 11, the Phoenix Police Department said that the Arizona state laboratory had tested the items turned over to them by Lake's campaign, and found "no substance" inside. After this revelation, Lake's campaign stated that there actually had been three envelopes, with the first envelope being opened by the staffer having "a white powdery substance along with a hateful letter", but that the staffer threw the first envelope away, and that the trash was emptied before police were informed, with police being handed the other two envelopes.

COVID-19

In August 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Lake led anti-mask rallies, calling on Arizona State University students to go against the university's mask mandates. Lake said that as governor she would not tolerate mask and vaccine mandates. In November 2021, Lake told a group of Republican retirees that she was taking hydroxychloroquine to prevent COVID-19 infection. She stated that, as governor, she would work to have hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin produced in the state to "make it easier for us to get these lifesaving drugs". Lake questioned the science behind COVID-19 vaccines and said that she had not been vaccinated.

Stolen 2020 election claims

Lake had been a leading proponent of the false claim that the 2020 presidential election was "stolen" from Trump. During her campaign, she aligned herself with Trump and centered her candidacy on promoting election lies.

Lake claimed President Joe Biden did not receive 81 million votes and that Arizona (which was won by Biden in the 2020 presidential election) was actually won by Trump. After the 2021 Maricopa County presidential ballot audit found no evidence of election fraud, she demanded the election be "decertified"a legal impossibility, as such a process does not exist. Lake tweeted quotes made by Sidney Powell on Lou Dobbs Tonight falsely asserting there was a sweeping election fraud conspiracy. She has advocated imprisoning Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, her Democratic opponent in the gubernatorial race, on baseless and unspecified allegations of criminality related to the 2020 election. Lake also called for imprisoning journalists. Lake repeatedly claimed that defendants arrested in connection with the January 6 United States Capitol attack were "being held in prison without being charged".

Trump endorsed Lake's candidacy, as did pro-Trump Republican figures such as Arizona congressman Paul Gosar and former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. By contrast, Lake's main primary opponent, Robson, was endorsed by outgoing Republican governor Doug Ducey, as well as Arizona Senate president Karen Fann and Americans for Prosperity. Lake attacked Robson for failing to endorse false claims of election fraud. Lake attended events headed by My Pillow founder Mike Lindell, a prominent promoter of false claims regarding fraud in the 2020 election. During her 2021 campaign for governor, she said that she would not have certified Biden's 2020 election victory in Arizona if she had been governor at the time. During a June 2022 debate among candidates for the Republican nomination, Lake continued to make baseless claims the 2020 presidential election was "stolen" and "corrupt".

Fox News reported in July 2022 that nine days before the 2017 inauguration of Donald Trump, Lake had posted a meme on Facebook that declared the inauguration a "national day of mourning and protest", in which she asked her followers how they would react to Trump's inauguration. She asked "Will you be protesting the inauguration?" and how they might protest. The post was deleted after Fox News asked Lake's campaign about it.

In February 2023, Lake said: "We've got great candidates on the Republican Party and on our side. We've got so many great candidates that if our elections were really fair, I believe the ranks of Congress, the Senate, I think a White House, I think all the state governorships would be Republican if elections were fair".

Election loss and refusal to concede

In October 2022, Lake twice refused to say that she will accept the result if she lost the election: "I'm going to win the election, and I will accept that result."

Multiple media outlets projected on November 14, 2022, that Lake had narrowly lost the gubernatorial election to Hobbs. Lake's reaction to this was tweeting that "Arizonans know BS when they see it." On November 17, Lake still refused to concede her loss, and announced she was assembling a legal team to challenge the results.

Arizona's election results were certified on December 5, with Lake losing to Hobbs by a margin of over 17,000 votes: Lake received 1,270,774 votes, while Hobbs received 1,287,891 votes. A January 2023 analysis by a trio of election data experts, collectively known as the Audit Guys, concluded that in Maricopa County, over 33,000 voters who voted Republican in down-ballot races chose to vote for Hobbs instead of Lake, while nearly 6,000 Republican leaning voters did not vote in the gubernatorial election or wrote in another candidate instead of Lake; together, these voters could have flipped the result of the election had they voted for Lake. Conversely, the analysis found that Lake received fewer than 6,000 votes from Democrat-leaning voters in Maricopa County. Meanwhile, the Associated Press reported in February 2023 that its survey of over 3,200 voters estimated that 11% of Arizona Republicans had voted for Hobbs, while 4% of Arizona Democrats voted for Lake.

Lake alleged voter disfranchisement due to ballot printing problems and long waiting lines in Maricopa County, which had elections run by local Republican officials. In 70 out of 223 Maricopa County polling sites, voting machine ballots were printed too lightly to be read by tabulators; the problem was caused by a printer setting which had not shown widespread issues during prior testing. If voters did not want to wait in line for the issue to be fixed, they could leave to vote at another Maricopa County polling site, with wait times for polling sites being shown online, and many polling sites had little to no waiting lines, stated Maricopa County election officials. Alternatively, voters could drop their ballots into a secure box ("Box 3"), with these ballots being later tabulated at Maricopa County's elections headquarters, under monitoring from observers from both parties; ultimately, around 17,000 Maricopa County ballots were dropped into Box 3. The Arizona secretary of state's office spokesperson said that "Every voter who went to one of the voting locations affected was still able to cast their ballot", and voting rights experts agreed.

Bill Gates, the Republican chair of Maricopa's Board of Supervisors, partially blamed the long lines on Arizona Republican Party chairwoman Kelli Ward for discouraging voters from using Box 3; she had claimed that Box 3 should not be used as "Maricopa County is not turning on their tabulators downtown today". Lake herself told her supporters to stay in line to vote, while a lawyer for Lake's campaign assuaged concerns about using Box 3 to vote. Lake's campaign filed a lawsuit on Election Day to extend voting for another three hours, but Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Tim Ryan declined to do so, stating: "The court doesn't have any evidence that any voter was precluded from their right to vote".

While Lake alleged that Republican-dominated areas in Maricopa County were disproportionately affected by the printing problems, The Washington Post found that the percentage of registered Republicans in affected precincts (37%) was very close to the percentage of registered Republicans across Maricopa County (35%), and also found that some Democrat-dominated areas also faced the printing problems. Meanwhile, The New York Times analyzed 45 claims of irregularities reported by voters, finding that in 34 of these 45 claims, the voters were able to cast their vote despite an inconvenience; while for the others, three raised problems with voter registration; seven gave unclear accounts as to what exactly happened; and only one said she had been denied the opportunity to vote, though she acknowledged she had arrived at her polling place at the time it closed. Lake self-identified as a "proud election denying deplorable" in December 2022.

Hobbs was sworn in as governor on January 2, 2023. Later in January 2023, Lake posted on Twitter 16 voter signatures, mostly from 2020, suggesting that these were from illegal ballots because the signatures did not match; Arizona law states that "records containing a voter's signature ... shall not be ... reproduced by any person other than the voter", with the exception of those working for the county recorder. She also posted a false claim that almost 250,000 voting attempts failed during the 2022 Arizona elections, without proving that the votes were not counted; during the elections, votes that could not be initially scanned were later counted at another location.

Lake's campaign raised $2.6 million from Election Day until the end of 2022, while taking in even more money from a non-profit fundraising group started by Lake's advisers in December 2022; this group became Lake's main fundraising outlet by February 2023, and is not required to publish donation details. The Arizona Mirror found in January 2023 that less than 10% of the funds raised by Lake after the election were paid to lawyers, despite Lake claiming that the funds were meant for contesting election results.

The results of an independent investigation into the 2022 election's printing problems was published in April 2023; the investigation was led by a retired chief justice of the Arizona Supreme Court, Ruth McGregor, who concluded that "the primary cause of the election day failures was equipment failure", and that no evidence gathered gave "clear indication that the problems should have been anticipated". McGregor also detailed: "Two-thirds of the general election vote centers reported no issues with misprinted ballots; approximately 94 percent of election day ballots were not faulty".

In February 2024, Lake was questioned about her claims about the 2022 gubernatorial election, to which she replied: "I don't know who exactly stole the election, but there are a lot of people who are running elections poorly, and we've seen the results."

Defamation lawsuit

In June 2023, Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer sued Lake for defamation. Richer alleged that Lake had defamed him by repeatedly accusing him of intentionally sabotaging the 2022 election by printing wrong-sized ballots and injecting 300,000 illegal votes into the Maricopa County vote count; he alleged that Lake's statements caused threats against him and his family, and resulted in him being ostracized from Republican donors and networks. In December 2023, a Maricopa County judge denied Lake's motion to dismiss, ruling that Lake's statements were not "rhetorical hyperbole" and would not be protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution if they were proven to be false. In 2024, the Arizona Court of Appeals and the Arizona Supreme Court both rejected Lake's appeal, clearing the way for a trial.

In March 2024, Lake requested a hearing for a default judgment against herself in the defamation case, deciding not to contest the defamation claim, and asking for the trial to proceed to the amount of damages she would have to pay Richer. Within days, Judge Adleman ruled that Lake could no longer claim in court that she had not defamed Richer, because under "well-established Arizona law – a defaulted party loses all rights to litigate the merits of the cause of action". In November 2024, the court stated that Lake and Richer had settled the defamation case.

2022 election lawsuits

Pre-election federal suit

In April 2022, Lake and Mark Finchem sued state officials, seeking to ban electronic voting machines from being used in her 2022 election. In August 2022, U.S. District Judge John Tuchi dismissed the suit, writing that Lake and Finchem "articulated only conjectural allegations of potential injuries" and thus lacked standing. In his ruling, Tuchi also cited the Eleventh Amendment to the United States Constitution, as well as the Purcell principle. In December 2022, Tuchi sanctioned Lake's lawyers in this suit, including Alan Dershowitz, for making "false, misleading, and unsupported" assertions during the case, and making claims without "an adequate factual or legal basis grounded in a reasonable pre-filing inquiry"; he ordered the plaintiffs to pay the defendants' attorney fees. Tuchi said the sanctions would show that the court does not tolerate litigants "furthering false narratives that baselessly undermine public trust at a time of increasing disinformation about, and distrust in, the democratic process". The sanction amount was set by Tuchi to be roughly $122,000.

Finchem and Lake's appeal, aimed at banning electronic voting machines, was rejected in October 2022 by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which highlighted that "counsel for plaintiffs conceded that their arguments were limited to potential future hacking, and not based on any past harm", and voiced agreement "with the district court that plaintiffs' speculative allegations that voting machines may be hackable are insufficient to establish an injury". Finchem and Lake in March 2024 appealed to the United States Supreme Court, which rejected their lawsuit in April 2024. Finchem and Lake then appealed again to the Ninth Circuit, which tersely denied the appeal in June 2024.

Post-election state lawsuits

On December 9, 2022, after Arizona certified the election results, Lake filed a new suit in state court, seeking a court order to either overturn Hobbs' victory and declare Lake as the winner of the election, or redo the election in Maricopa County. Lake's complaint alleged that there were hundreds of thousands of illegal votes in the election, but provided no evidence in support of these claims. On December 19, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson, who was appointed by Republican governor Jan Brewer, dismissed eight of ten counts of Lake's lawsuit (specifically, her claims of invalid signatures on mail-in ballots, incorrect certification, inadequate remedy, and violations of freedom of speech, equal protection, due process, the secrecy clause, and constitutional rights). The judge allowed the remaining two counts (Lake's claim that election officials intentionally interfered with Maricopa County ballot printers and with the chain of custody of Maricopa County ballots) to go to trial, specifying that Lake would need to prove at trial that the allegations were true and that the alleged actions actually changed the election.

During the two-day trial, Northrop Grumman information security officer Clay Parikh, a witness called by Lake, testified that some ballots had printing errors that would cause tabulation issues, but these misprinted ballots would ultimately be counted after duplicates were made. On December 24, Judge Thompson dismissed Lake's remaining case, writing: "Every single witness before the Court disclaimed any personal knowledge of such [intentional] misconduct. The Court cannot accept speculation or conjecture in place of clear and convincing evidence". The judge further ruled that "printer failures did not actually affect the results of the election", noting that a witness called by Lake testified that "printer failures were largely the result of unforeseen mechanical failure."

A day after the ruling was issued, Lake's Twitter page attacked the judge in this case, linking to a Townhall article to baselessly claim that "his decision was ghostwritten" by "top left-wing attorneys like Marc Elias.'" No evidence supported the tweet's claim, and the tweet was deleted the next day, after Secretary Hobbs filed a motion to sanction Lake. On December 27, Judge Thompson ordered Lake to pay Hobbs $33,000 in fees for expert witnesses and a ballot inspector due to the lawsuit, but did not sanction Lake for filing the lawsuit. Lake appealed the dismissal and the order directing her to pay $33,000 in fees.

A three-judge panel of the Arizona Court of Appeals unanimously rejected Lake's appeal on February 16, 2023. The court found that "Lake's only purported evidence" that long lines at voting centers "had any potential effect on election results was, quite simply, sheer speculation"; that "Lake presented no evidence that voters whose ballots were unreadable by on-site tabulators were not able to vote" (and, indeed, that Lake's own cybersecurity expert testified to the contrary); and that the evidence in the trial record showed that "voters were able to cast their ballots, that votes were counted correctly and that no other basis justifies setting aside the election results".

Lake sought to appeal to the Arizona Supreme Court. On March 22, 2023, the Court denied Lake's request to hear her lawsuit. The Court issued a five-page order ruling that the lower courts had correctly dismissed six of Lake's seven legal claims, determining that these challenges were "insufficient to warrant the requested relief under Arizona or federal law." For Lake's remaining legal claim (on signature verification), the Arizona Supreme Court ruled that the lower courts incorrectly interpreted her challenge as pertaining to signature verification policies themselves, instead of the application of such policies, and remanded (sent back) the remaining claim to the trial court. After a three-day trial, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson ruled against Lake for her remaining claim on May 22, 2023, thus re-affirming Hobbs' election. Thompson wrote that Lake had not provided "clear and convincing evidence or a preponderance of evidence" of misconduct in the election, while there was "ample evidence that – objectively speaking – a comparison between voter records and signatures was conducted in every instance [Lake] asked the Court to evaluate." Thompson noted that Lake's attorneys earlier argued that Maricopa County did not perform signature verification, but later argued that signature verification was performed, but done too quickly. Thompson concluded that it was possible for signature verification to be done quickly and properly when "looking at signatures that, by and large, have consistent characteristics". Lake was not sanctioned by Thompson for her final claim, as he ruled that while there was no clear or convincing evidence for this claim, it was not necessarily "groundless".

The Arizona Supreme Court in May 2023 ruled that it was employing "the extraordinary remedy of a sanction" on Lake's lawyers, imposing a $2,000 fine on them for making "false factual statements to the Court". Lake's lawyers had falsely claimed in legal filings that it was an "undisputed fact that 35,563 unaccounted for ballots were added to the total of ballots [at] a third party processing facility; in imposing its sanction, the Arizona Supreme Court stated that "no evidence" supported the claim that 35,563 ballots were added, and that Lake's claim had been disputed by the other side, making the claim of an "undisputed" fact "unequivocally false".

During Lake's appeal of Thompson's ruling against her final claim, she tried to appeal directly to the Arizona Supreme Court, which denied her motion to do so in July 2023, citing "no good cause" for Lake to skip appealing to the Arizona Court of Appeals. Lake's appeal was rejected by the Arizona Court of Appeals in June 2024, with Judge Sean Brearcliffe stating that Lake had claimed "8,000 uncounted votes", but this could not overcome her loss margin of over 17,000 votes to Hobbs, and while Lake claimed she had new evidence to present, Brearcliffe found that she already possessed the evidence previously, but did not "analyze" it. Lake appealed to the Arizona Supreme Court in July 2024, which declined in November 2024 to hear Lake's appeal, ensuring that the lower courts' rulings were maintained, which ended Lake's legal challenge against the 2022 result.{{cite news |last1=Fischer |first1=Howard |title=Kari Lake again goes to court to challenge 2022 election loss

In April 2023, Lake sued Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer, seeking to compel him to produce 1.3 million ballot affidavit envelopes, containing voters' signatures, names, addresses, and phone numbers. After a September 2023 trial, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge John Hannah ruled against Lake in November 2023. The court ruled that release of voters' personal information would bring a "significant risk of widespread voter fraud where none now exists"; would expose voters to harassment, loss of privacy, and identity theft; and had the potential to discourage voting. In March 2024, Lake abandoned her appeal of Hannah's ruling.

2024 Senate run

Lake announced her candidacy for the 2024 United States Senate election in Arizona on October 10, 2023. In November 2023, Politico noted that Lake had pivoted from the fire-and-brimstone approach of her gubernatorial campaign to a more diplomatic approach, seeking to mend relationships with Republicans she had previously attacked. The Hill also noted that Lake "sought to strike a more conciliatory tone with Republicans" compared to her 2022 campaign.

In January 2024, Lake publicly called for Arizona Republican Party chair Jeff DeWit to resign for being "corrupt and compromised", with DeWit resigning a day later. Before the resignation, a recording of Lake and DeWit conversing in March 2023 had been published by right-wing talk show host Garret Lewis. Lake called the incident a "bribery scandal", while DeWit accused Lake acting in a "deceptive" manner by releasing "a selectively edited audio recording" made when Lake was employed by DeWit. DeWit explained his resignation as due to "Lake's team" demanding it or he would "face the release of a new, more damaging recording". In response, two of Lake's advisors denied having "threatened or blackmailed" DeWit.

In February 2024, she spoke at CPAC, saying she was "tired of beta men" and wanted "some alpha men." In April, when discussing the 2024 election campaign, Lake said that the "next six months are going to be difficult. If you are not ready for action, and I have a feeling with as many veterans and former law enforcement, active law enforcement ... you guys are ready for it [...] they're going to come after us with everything. That's why the next six months is going to be intense. [...] We are going to put on the armor of God. And maybe strap on a Glock on the side of us just in case."

Lake was defeated by Democratic nominee Ruben Gallego in the November 2024 general election. Lake received around 80,000 fewer votes compared to Gallego. In mid-November 2024, as vote counting was still ongoing, The Washington Post contrasted how Lake was losing by 2% in Arizona when fellow Republican Donald Trump was simultaneously winning by almost 6% in Arizona.

2025

Donald Trump in 2024 had indicated Lake as his choice to lead the Voice of America, but in early 2025, the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which oversees the Voice of America, announced that she would serve as a special advisor.

Political positions

Lake identifies as a conservative Republican and described herself in 2022 as a "Trump candidate". She accused President Joe Biden and Democrats of harboring a "demonic agenda".

Abortion

In 2022, Lake said that she considers abortion to be "the ultimate sin". She praised the June 2022 Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which held that there was no federal right to abortion under the U.S. Constitution, and overturned Roe v. Wade. In 2022, Lake repeatedly expressed support for an 1864 law from the Arizona Territory period that prohibited abortion in Arizona except to save the life of a mother (saying she was "incredibly thrilled that we are going to have a great law that's already on the books"), and she called for other states to adopt similar laws. In November 2023, Lake reaffirmed her support for the 1864 abortion ban.

After Democrats enjoyed electoral success by campaigning for abortion rights, Lake began to distance herself from the law. Days later, on April 16, she discussed people's ability to sidestep the 1864 law in Arizona by traveling to neighboring states: "Even if we have a restrictive law here ... you can go three hours that way, three hours that way, and you're going to be able to have an abortion".

Thereafter, on April 20, 2024, Lake changed her position again, returning to her earlier position of supporting the 1864 law, after Governor of Arizona Katie Hobbs and Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes indicated that they would not prosecute offenders of the 1864 law. Lake said: "The Arizona Supreme Court said this is the law of Arizona. But unfortunately the people running our state have said we're not going to enforce it. So, it's really political theater. [...] We don't have that law, as much as many of us wish we did."

Other views

In an op-ed for the Independent Journal Review, Lake wrote that as governor she would deport illegal immigrants that enter Arizona without seeking federal approval and complete unfinished portions of the Mexico–United States border wall.

Lake was criticized for deeming drag queens as being potentially harmful to children despite having attended drag events herself in the past. Following the criticism, she clarified that she supports adults being able to attend drag shows, while Lake's campaign spokesperson, Ross Trumble, also did acknowledge that Lake's daughter, a minor at the time, attended a private event where a drag queen "showed up as a Marilyn Monroe impersonator." In 2015, Lake stated on social media that she supported an adult's and young person's right to gender transition, but later reversed that position saying in 2022 that both gender and sex are determined at birth. After her election loss, she was listed as an honoree and presenter at Mar-a-Lago for the December 15, 2022, "Spirit of Lincoln Gala," an event held by the Log Cabin Republicans, a political action committee for LGBTQ Republicans. In 2024, the Log Cabin Republicans endorsed Lake's Senate campaign.

In an interview with 60 Minutes Australia journalist Liam Bartlett, Lake asserted that Australians "have no freedom" due to strict Australian gun laws.

Personal life

Lake has been married to Jeff Halperin since August 1998. They have two children. She was previously married to Tracy Finnegan, an electrical engineer.

Lake grew up as a Catholic. She previously identified as a Buddhist before 2015 according to her friends. As of 2022, Lake identifies as an Evangelical Christian.

References

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44. (September 8, 2022). "Hobbs, Lake take the stage separately in Arizona gubernatorial candidate forum". [[KPHO-TV]].
45. (November 7, 2022). "'Suspicious envelope' found in mail at Kari Lake headquarters in Phoenix". [[ABC 15 Arizona]].
46. (November 11, 2022). "Substance not found in 'suspicious envelope' mailed to Kari Lake's campaign headquarters, PD says". [[KSAZ-TV]].
47. (November 11, 2022). "Police say no substance was found inside mail at Kari Lake's headquarters. Head of security says it was thrown away". [[KPNX]].
48. (August 10, 2021). "Kari Lake is trying to make the jump from TV news to governor of Arizona. Can she do it?". KNXV.
49. Schwenk, Katya. (November 23, 2021). "Kari Lake Says She's Taking Hydroxychloroquine to Ward Off COVID-19". [[Phoenix New Times]].
50. Orr, Gabby. (January 31, 2022). "Trump at odds with preferred candidates on Covid vaccines". CNN.
51. Bruggeman, Lucien. (February 16, 2022). "Candidates' vaccine hesitancy "demonstrates the limits" of Trump's grip on GOP, say experts". ABC News.
52. Dale, Daniel. (October 16, 2021). "Fact-checking Kari Lake, serial promoter of election lies and early frontrunner in GOP primary for Arizona governor". [[CNN]].
53. (August 15, 2021). "'Take the mask and shove it': Kari Lake leads anti-mask rally at ASU. Here are 5 takeaways". [[KPNX]].
54. (July 1, 2022). "Lie as litmus test: Arizona governor candidate Kari Lake calls it 'disqualifying' for rival not to declare 2020 election 'stolen'". CNN.
55. (June 30, 2022). "Republicans square off in raucous Arizona governor debate". Associated Press.
56. (September 20, 2021). "'It's spreading': Phony election fraud conspiracies infect midterms".
57. Boehm, Jessica. (June 30, 2022). "Lake, Robson spar in debate ahead of GOP gubernatorial primary". [[Axios (website).
58. Sherman, Amy. (March 17, 2022). "Arizona GOP candidate Kari Lake wrongly says Jan. 6 defendants are in prison without charges". [[PolitiFact]].
59. Fichera, Angelo. (February 11, 2022). "Jan. 6 defendants have been charged with crimes". [[Associated Press]].
60. Barchenger, Stacey. (September 28, 2021). "Kari Lake gets coveted endorsement from former President Trump in Arizona governor's race".
61. Clift, Eleanor. (November 10, 2021). "Kari Lake Is the Camera Ready, Big-Lie Loving Future of the MAGA Movement".
62. Sanchez, Yvonne Wingett. (July 7, 2022). "Ducey backs Taylor Robson over Trump candidate in Ariz. governor race". Washington Post.
63. Berman, Ari. (October 2, 2021). "Trump's candidate for Arizona governor says she would not have certified Biden's victory".
64. (July 20, 2022). "Kari Lake posted anti-Trump meme days before '17 inauguration: Fox News". The Hill.
65. (July 20, 2022). "Trump-backed Kari Lake shared anti-Trump 'not my president' meme on Facebook days before 2017 inauguration". Fox News.
66. (February 10, 2023). "Kari Lake's Idea For A 'Really Fair' Election Is Her Most Bonkers One Yet". [[Huffington Post]].
67. Concepcion, Summer. (October 16, 2022). "Kari Lake refuses to say whether she would accept loss in Arizona election". NBC News.
68. (November 15, 2022). "Democrat Katie Hobbs defeats MAGA favorite Kari Lake in high-stakes race for governor in Arizona". [[NBC News]].
69. (November 14, 2022). "2022 Arizona governor's race: Katie Hobbs defeats Kari Lake, CBS News projects". [[CBS News]].
70. (November 15, 2022). "Reality waits to see if it has a new supporter". [[The Washington Post]].
71. Cooper, Jonathan J.. (November 17, 2022). "Lake refuses to concede in Arizona governor's race she lost".
72. (November 17, 2022). "Kari Lake says she is 'exploring every avenue' to fight her loss, despite no sign of election-tilting problems.". [[The New York Times]].
73. (December 9, 2022). "Kari Lake Sues Arizona's Largest County, Seeking to Overturn Her Defeat". [[The New York Times]].
74. (December 9, 2022). "Kari Lake files 70-page lawsuit against top Arizona election officials". [[Fox 10 Phoenix]].
75. (January 22, 2023). "How many Republican voters in Maricopa County chose Katie Hobbs over Kari Lake?". [[The Arizona Republic]].
76. (November 12, 2022). "Counting through the conspiracies in Arizona's midterms".
77. (November 13, 2022). "Arizona precincts with voting problems were not overwhelmingly Republican". [[The Washington Post]].
78. Schonfeld, Zach. (November 17, 2022). "Kari Lake declines to concede, says she's assembling legal team". [[The Hill (newspaper).
79. Stone, Kevin. (November 9, 2022). "What's in Box 3? About 17,000 Maricopa County ballots that wouldn't scan". [[KTAR-FM]].
80. Czopek, Madison. (November 22, 2022). "Kari Lake claimed Maricopa County voters were 'disenfranchised'. Experts disagree.".
81. (November 19, 2022). "Kari Lake Claims Her Voters Were Disenfranchised. Her Voters Tell a Different Story.". [[The New York Times]].
82. (November 8, 2022). "Judge rejects emergency GOP lawsuit to extend voting hours in Maricopa County". [[The Arizona Republic]].
83. Wade, Natalie. (November 17, 2022). "Posts mislead on Arizona ballot counting in Maricopa County".
84. (December 19, 2022). "Kari Lake calls herself 'proud election-denying deplorable' in ranting speech". [[The Independent]].
85. (January 2, 2023). "Democrat Katie Hobbs takes office as Arizona governor". [[Associated Press]].
86. "Adrian Fontes asks attorney general to investigate Kari Lake for posting voter signatures online". [[The Arizona Republic]].
87. (February 3, 2023). "Fact check: Kari Lake falsely claims that nearly 250,000 voting attempts failed in midterms". [[USA Today]].
88. (February 21, 2023). "Kari Lake looks to harness her movement after Arizona loss". [[Associated Press]].
89. (January 28, 2023). "Arizona's Kari Lake hasn't conceded and has raised millions of dollars since losing". [[Deseret News]].
90. (April 10, 2023). "Printer glitches in Ariz. election not due to malfeasance, review finds". [[The Washington Post]].
91. (April 11, 2023). "Paper changes caused Maricopa County printer failure: report". [[Associated Press]].
92. (February 20, 2024). "Lake: 'I don't know who exactly stole the election'". [[The Hill (newspaper).
93. (June 22, 2023). "Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer sues defeated AZ GOP governor candidate Kari Lake for defamation". [[FOX 10 Phoenix]].
94. (December 20, 2023). "Arizona judge: Defamation lawsuit against Kari Lake to move forward". [[tucson.com]].
95. (December 20, 2023). "Defamation case against Kari Lake, filed by Stephen Richer, will go forward, judge says". [[Arizona Republic]].
96. "Kari Lake's challenge in defamation lawsuit rejected by Arizona court". [[Arizona Republic]].
97. (March 5, 2024). "Arizona Supreme Court rejects Kari Lake's appeal in defamation case, lifts temporary stay". [[Arizona Republic]].
98. (March 27, 2024). "Kari Lake won't contest claims she defamed Arizona election official". [[The Guardian]].
99. (March 28, 2024). "Judge: Lake can't legally challenge Richer's defamation allegations". [[kjzz.org]].
100. (November 17, 2024). "Kari Lake settles election defamation case brought by Arizona official". [[The Washington Post]].
101. (December 2, 2022). "Kari Lake's Counsel Sanctioned for False Claims in Election Suit". [[Bloomberg Law]].
102. (August 26, 2022). "Lake, Finchem lawsuit to ban voting machines tossed due to lack of evidence of problems". [[The Arizona Republic]].
103. (August 27, 2022). "Judge tosses Lake, Finchem lawsuit to stop use of voting machines". [[KTVK]] and [[KPHO-TV]].
104. (August 26, 2022). "Arizona GOP candidates lose bid to ban 'exploitable' voting machines". [[Courthouse News]].
105. (July 14, 2023). "Kari Lake's team ordered to pay more than $122K in sanctions over Maricopa lawsuit".
106. (October 16, 2023). "Ninth Circuit delivers another blow to Kari Lake's election fraud claims". [[Courthouse News]].
107. (March 15, 2024). "Kari Lake asks Supreme Court to take up voting machines case". [[kjzz.org]].
108. (April 22, 2024). "Supreme Court declines to hear Kari Lake voting machine lawsuit". [[The Hill (newspaper).
109. (June 24, 2024). "9th Circ. Won't Reconsider Or Sanction In Kari Lake Vote Suit". [[Law360]].
110. (December 10, 2022). "Republican Kari Lake files lawsuit in bid to overturn Arizona election". [[NBC News]].
111. (December 9, 2022). "Complaint in Special Action and Verified Statement of Election Contest Pursuant to A.R.S. § 16–672". Arizona Maricopa County Clerk of the Court.
112. (December 10, 2022). "Kari Lake challenges her defeat in Arizona governor's race". [[Associated Press]].
113. (December 19, 2022). "Judge orders trial this week in Kari Lake's challenge to Gov.-elect Katie Hobbs' victory". [[12News]].
114. (December 21, 2022). "Kari Lake to claim in court Arizona governor's race was stolen from her". [[CBS News]].
115. (December 19, 2022). "Arizona judge dismisses most of Kari Lake's lawsuit challenging election results". [[The Hill (newspaper).
116. (December 19, 2022). "Kari Lake gets trial in election misconduct allegation, other claims tossed". [[tucson.com]].
117. (December 21, 2022). "Lake's expert witness: Misprinted ballots would ultimately have been counted". [[12News]].
118. (December 24, 2022). "Arizona Judge Rejects Kari Lake's Effort to Overturn Her Election Loss". [[The New York Times]].
119. (December 24, 2022). "'The Court DOES NOT find clear and convincing evidence of misconduct': Judge rules against Kari Lake's bid to overturn Arizona's election results". [[12News]].
120. (December 24, 2022). "Arizona judge rejects Kari Lake's election challenge and confirms Hobbs' victory". [[CNN]].
121. (December 24, 2022). "Kari Lake's Claims of Election Misconduct Rejected by Arizona Judge". [[The Wall Street Journal]].
122. (December 27, 2022). "Lake deletes tweet targeting Maricopa judge after officials seek sanctions". [[The Hill (newspaper).
123. (December 26, 2022). "Nearly $700K in fees sought over Kari Lake election challenge". [[tucson.com]].
124. (December 26, 2022). "Motions for sanctions filed against Kari Lake in Maricopa County". [[KSAZ-TV]].
125. (December 27, 2022). "Arizona judge orders Kari Lake to compensate Katie Hobbs for some fees for election lawsuit, but declines to sanction her". [[CNN]].
126. (December 27, 2022). "Judge denies Hobbs request to sanction Lake over Arizona election claims". [[The Hill (newspaper).
127. (December 28, 2022). "Kari Lake appeals her loss in election lawsuit, judge's order to pay rival $33K in fees". [[The Arizona Republic]].
128. (February 16, 2023). "Arizona appeals court rejects Kari Lake's challenge of election loss to Gov. Katie Hobbs". [[The Arizona Republic]].
129. (February 16, 2023). "Appeals court rejects Kari Lake's latest election challenge". [[tucson.com]].
130. (February 17, 2023). "Appeals court rejects Kari Lake's challenge of election loss to Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs". [[NBC News]].
131. (February 16, 2023). "Arizona appeals court rejects Kari Lake's election challenge". [[United Press International]].
132. (March 2, 2023). "Lake appeals loss in governor's race to state Supreme Court". [[Associated Press]].
133. (March 23, 2023). "Arizona Supreme Court Turns Down Kari Lake's Appeal in Her Election Lawsuit". [[The New York Times]].
134. (March 22, 2023). "AZ Supreme Court rejects most of Kari Lake's election challenge". [[The Arizona Republic]].
135. (May 22, 2023). "Judge rules against Kari Lake, affirms Hobbs as AZ governor in election signature verification trial". [[The Arizona Republic]].
136. (May 23, 2023). "Arizona judge rejects Kari Lake's final 2022 election lawsuit". [[CNN]].
137. (May 22, 2023). "Kari Lake loses election challenge". [[Courthouse News]].
138. (May 26, 2023). "Judge declines to sanction Kari Lake, attorneys in election challenge case". [[12News]].
139. (May 4, 2023). "Kari Lake's lawyer sanctioned over 'unequivocally false' statements". [[FOX 10 Phoenix]].
140. (May 4, 2023). "Kari Lake's lawyers fined in failed Arizona election lawsuit". [[Associated Press]].
141. (April 7, 2023). "Kari Lake's lawyers seek to keep her from paying legal fees in election fight". [[tucson.com]].
142. (July 26, 2023). "Justices say Kari Lake can't jump directly to them in appeals process". [[tucson.com]].
143. (June 12, 2024). "Appeals Court says Kari Lake isn't entitled to rerun of election she lost". [[tucson.com]].
144. (November 7, 2024). "Supreme Court quashes Kari Lake's final 2022 election appeal". [[tucson.com]].
145. (November 30, 2023). "Kari Lake handed another loss in long-running election challenge". [[Courthouse News Service]].
146. (November 30, 2023). "Kari Lake's records request and lawsuit on ballot return envelopes rejected by judge". [[Arizona Republic]].
147. (March 6, 2024). "Kari Lake drops court case she called key to her election challenge". [[tucson.com]].
148. (October 10, 2023). "Arizona Republican Kari Lake launches 2024 senate campaign". National Public Radio.
149. (November 15, 2023). "Kari Lake 'drove a stake' through the heart of McCain Republicans. Now she wants a meeting.". Politico.
150. (November 18, 2023). "Lake looks for reset button in Arizona Senate race". The Hill.
151. (January 25, 2024). "Arizona GOP chair resigns after Kari Lake bribery allegation, says she threatened him". [[NBC News]].
152. (January 24, 2024). "Chair of Arizona Republican party resigns after leak reveals alleged bribe". [[The Guardian]].
153. (January 24, 2024). "Arizona GOP Chairman resigns: Jeff DeWit was at center of audio recording controversy". [[FOX 10 Phoenix]].
154. Johnson, Julia. (February 24, 2024). "CPAC 2024: Kari Lake makes case for bringing back 'alpha male' Trump".
155. (April 17, 2024). "Kari Lake suggests supporters 'strap on a Glock' to be ready for 2024". [[NBC News]].
156. (November 9, 2024). "Gallego defeats Lake in Arizona Senate race". [[The Hill (newspaper).
157. (November 20, 2024). "Kari Lake settles with Stephen Richer for defaming him". [[tucson.com]].
158. (November 12, 2024). "The best and worst candidates of 2024". [[The Washington Post]].
159. (May 11, 2022). "Here's what Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake says about abortion". KTAR.
160. (June 24, 2022). "Arizonans, health professionals and politicians react to Roe v. Wade abortion ruling". The Arizona Republic.
161. Cameron, Chris. (April 10, 2024). "Kari Lake Called Arizona's Abortion Ban a 'Great Law,' but Now She Denounces It". The New York Times.
162. (April 12, 2024). "Kari Lake denounces Arizona abortion ban that she once supported". [[The Guardian]].
163. (December 12, 2023). "GOP Senate candidates soften their abortion stances amid a post-Roe losing streak".
164. (March 2, 2024). "Kari Lake seeks to moderate her position on abortion, says she opposes a federal ban".
165. (April 9, 2024). "Arizona Supreme Court rules a near-total abortion ban from 1864 is enforceable".
166. (April 17, 2024). "Kari Lake downplays 1864 abortion law, says Arizonans can travel '3 hours' for procedure". [[Arizona Republic]].
167. Weixel, Nathaniel. (April 23, 2024). "Kari Lake flips on Arizona abortion ban, says 'unfortunately' it's not being enforced". [[The Hill (newspaper).
168. (April 23, 2024). "Kari Lake bemoans fact that Arizona's 1864 abortion ban is not being enforced, in another apparent shift". [[CNN]].
169. Lake, Kari. (January 5, 2022). "Kari Lake: Arizona Will Do What Washington Won't – Finish the Wall and Defend Our State". [[Independent Journal Review]].
170. Bikales, James. (June 20, 2022). "Arizona GOP candidate who criticized drag was once a fan, drag queen says". [[The Washington Post]].
171. (June 26, 2022). "Kari Lake sends 'cease-and-desist' letter to drag queen who called her out as hypocrite".
172. Barchenger, Stacey. "'She's thrown away my friendship': Drag queen calls out Kari Lake for hypocrisy".
173. Roberts, Laurie. "Kari Lake once supported transgender youth. Now she denies they exist".
174. (July 14, 2022). "Trump-backed Kari Lake posted support for transgender youth, asked about abortion in the case of birth defects in 2015 and 2016 posts {{!}} CNN Politics".
175. (December 17, 2022). "Kari Lake Slams 'Bastards' In NSFW Election Rant At Mar-A-Lago".
176. McGraw, Meridith. (December 16, 2022). "Scenes from a celebration of the same-sex marriage law – at Mar-a-Lago".
177. Tammye. (September 12, 2024). "Log Cabin announces 4th round of 2024 endorsements".
178. "2024 Endorsed Candidates".
179. (March 14, 2022). "Republican Kari Lake says Aussies have no freedoms due to giving up their guns, before storming out of interview". [[Agence France-Presse]].
180. Tropiano, Dolores. (August 19, 1998). "Nordstrom remains well-heeled". [[The Arizona Republic]].
181. (October 9, 2023). "Who is Kari Lake? What you need to know as she announces a bid for the Senate in Arizona". The Arizona Republic.
182. Lorenzen, Ron. (August 8, 1994). "KWQC alters afternoon lineup for news". Quad-City Times.
183. (October 16, 2022). "On Kari Lake's campaign for Arizona governor, the mic is always hot". [[The Washington Post]].
184. Hillyard, Vaughn. (July 21, 2022). "How an Obama-backing Arizona news anchor became Trump's pick for governor". NBC News.