Arizona Republican Kari Lake dropped her first major campaign ad Tuesday in her gubernatorial race, highlighting her personal history and her background as a news anchor. Although she did run ads in the primary, this multi-million dollar buy is her first for the general election.
From NBC:
Since the Aug. 2 primary through Monday, Lake had spent no money on television and just $8,000 on digital ads, per the ad-tracking firm AdImpact…
But Lake’s campaign, along with the Yuma County GOP, made a big ad buy on Monday of more than $7.5 million between the two groups, according to the ad-tracking firm, AdImpact.
In the new spot, the (ridiculously) telegenic Lake addresses the camera and matter-of-factly tells voters:
Hi Arizona, it’s Kari Lake. You’ve heard a lot of lies about me this past year, but here’s the truth: I was raised in a big family in Iowa. Dad was a teacher, and mom a nurse. I’m the youngest of nine, and we had to work hard to get by.
She continues:
I put myself through college and found opportunity here. I married Jeff, and we have two beautiful children. You welcomed me into your homes for 27 years as I delivered you honest news. Arizona gave me everything, and I’m running for governor to give you my all.
Meanwhile, a new poll from Suffolk University with The Arizona Republic shows that Lake is nearly tied with Hobbs:
Hobbs has a thin lead, but nearly a fifth of independents are undecided.
The poll shows Hobbs with a 1 percent lead over Lake, with 46 percent of respondents saying they would vote for Hobbs compared to 45 percent for Lake.
Polls are polls, though, and my colleague Cameron Arcand highlights another recent survey showing Lake up by 4. Arcand also reported that a sure-to-be-unwelcome presence is trying to insert herself into the race: none other than Never Trumper Liz Cheney. “I’m going to do everything I can to make sure Kari Lake is not elected,” she said at The Texas Tribune festival on Saturday.
I’m guessing Cheney just caused a whole of people to decide to vote for Kari.
Lake’s opponent, Hobbs, has previously called Trump’s base “neo Nazi” and refuses to debate Lake, who promised to hold her a spot on the debate stage on October 12 should Hobbs “grow a spine.” Lake has become more high profile recently, and appeared on Tucker Carlson’s show Monday night to praise the new provisional Prime Minister of Italy, Giorgia Meloni, and to talk about how she fears for the future of our country if we don’t “do something”:
She tells Tucker:
The people who are truly understanding what’s happening in this country, which is we’re losing this country, are the ones who are being attacked…
…actually I have great fear. I’m not afraid of the Fake News, I’m not afraid of the globalists, I’m not afraid of anything that I’m facing on the campaign trail…
What I’m scared to death of, is what happens if we don’t step in right at this moment and do something. I’m afraid of the world that our children will live in.
The new campaign ad isn’t earth-shaking or dramatic, but it’s effective because Kari Lake comes across as straightforward, no-nonsense, and passionate about her beliefs. Frankly, compared to a lot of other politicians out there on both sides of the aisle, she is a breath of fresh air.