Most Republican voters say election integrity is an important issue, but one of the Republican candidates for governor in Arizona said recently she does not believe there was any fraud in the 2020 presidential election.
During the PBS GOP gubernatorial primary debate on June 29, Trump-endorsed Kari Lake asked for a show of hands from the other three candidates regarding whether the 2020 election was “corrupt” and “stolen.” Only Karrin Taylor Robson did not raise her hand.
Instead, Robson tried to duck the question, responding, “I’m not going to play your stunt.” Moderator Ted Simons asked the candidates to explain why they believed the election was “rigged, stolen, or whatever the phrase might be.” Lake expounded, “It was corrupt and stolen. I’ve looked at the evidence, we did a forensic audit.”
Robson retorted, “Then turn it in, you should turn it.” Lake pinned her down, saying, “I know you don’t believe that our election was stolen, Karrin.” Robson again ducked the accusation, responding, “I believe our election was absolutely not fair.”
Lake shot back, “There’s a reason why the people who want to see election integrity are endorsing me. I just got the endorsement of Dinesh D’Souza, I’ve got the endorsement of all the America First people.”
Lake also said during the debate that she would not have certified the election results if she had been governor instead of Doug Ducey, who did. Robson ducked the question by stating that she “was not privy” to the information Ducey had at the time.
Lake tweeted after the debate that Robson’s position disqualifies her from becoming governor.
“Would you agree that we had a corrupt, stolen election? Raise your hand”
Only one #AZGOV Candidate REFUSED to raise her hand: Karrin Taylor Robson.
Disqualifying. pic.twitter.com/itilJRP3na
— Kari Lake for AZ Governor (@KariLake) June 30, 2022
Previously, Robson cited government officials changing their election rules at the last minute as a problem, but not voter fraud. “Joe Biden may be the president, but the election wasn’t fair,” she said in a statement provided to the AZ Mirror. “States across the country changed their voting rules in the weeks and months before the election; the mainstream media generally refused to cover stories harmful to Joe Biden; and Big Tech actively suppressed conservative voices.”
AZ Family said during an interview with Robson last month that she dodged a question about whether there was election fraud. The article noted, “Robson spoke about the 2020 election, and wouldn’t say if it was on the up-and-up or stolen.” Robson instead responded, “Well, I will go back to what I have always said, and I will continue to say that I don’t believe the election was fair.”
Lake, who is still well in the lead ahead of Robson by 12 points in the latest poll, has made championing election integrity a big part of her platform. Lake frequently cites the results of the audit and the film 2,000 Mules as evidence of voter fraud. While Donald Trump allegedly lost the election in Arizona by 10,457 votes, the self-identified “Trump Republican” is wildly popular in the state, polling higher than all of her GOP opponents combined for much of the race.
A Rasmussen Reports poll taken in March found that 52 percent of voters believe it is likely that “cheating affected the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.” Significant margins in every demographic except liberal, Democrat, moderate, the wealthiest, and highest education levels believe fraud was more likely than not.
A Monmouth University poll taken after the results of the independent Maricopa County ballot audit were presented last fall found that 73 percent of Republicans believe Joe Biden won the presidential election due to fraud.
Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich conducted his own review of the audit, and in an interim report released in April stated that his Election Integrity Unit discovered evidence of fraud and prosecutions were taking place. He found significant problems with signature verification, early ballot handling, and at least 100,000 to 200,000 early ballots that lacked a chain of custody.
The other two Republican candidates remaining in the race, Paola Tulliani Zen and Scott Neely, have failed to get more than a couple of points in polls. Zen wants to get rid of electronic voting machines and early ballots. Neely has previously said the election was stolen.
The race is essentially between Lake and Robson, since former Congressman Matt Salmon dropped out last week, endorsing Robson. However, the founder of Arizona’s State House Freedom Caucus and the only Arizona legislator to score 100 percent from the American Conservative Union, State Representative Jake Hoffman (R-Queen Creek), said former Salmon supporters should switch to Lake. The primary election is Aug. 2. Early voting began Wednesday.
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Rachel Alexander is a reporter at The Arizona Sun Times and The Star News Network. Follow Rachel on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Kari Lake” by The Kari Lake. Photo “Karrin Taylor Robson” by Karrin Taylor Robson. Background Photo “Election Day 2020” by Phil Roeder. CC BY 2.0.
