(HorizonPost.com) – Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake is hoping to woo the moderate Republicans she attacked during her 2022 gubernatorial race but so far, the moderates aren’t sold, the Washington Examiner reported.
Lake lost her bid for governor to Democrat Katie Hobbs after embracing Trump’s stolen election claims and rejecting the support of so-called McCain Republicans. In 2024, Lake is hoping she can win over the voters she rejected by toning down her more outspoken rhetoric.
In a recent interview with the Washington Examiner, Lake claimed that it was the media that labeled her as an extremist and she has always reached out to every Arizona voter, including independents, Republicans, and “disaffected Democrats.”
But the moderate Republicans in Arizona aren’t particularly eager to let go of the blistering attacks Lake aimed at them in 2022, nor are they convinced that Lake has moderated her positions one bit.
Just one week ago, Lake appeared at a campaign event with convicted January 6 rioter Jenna Ryan, who went to prison for her role in the Capitol attack.
Lake has continued defending everyone who engaged in rioting on January 6 while she’s been campaigning for the Republican Senate nomination, despite national Republicans advising her not to focus on the 2020 presidential election.
A fervent Trump supporter who has relied heavily on the largesse from the Trump team, Lake won’t easily abandon her focus on the issue that matters most to Donald Trump, namely allegations of stolen elections.
In an interview before Lake officially announced her 2024 Senate campaign, Montana Senator Steve Daines, the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee, told CNN that his advice would be for Kari Lake to “look to the future.” He said the one thing Republicans learned during the 2022 midterms is that voters aren’t interested in hearing “about grievances from the past.”
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