President Donald Trump swung through Arizona on Oct. 14 to shore up support for Republicans up and down the ballot, including gubernatorial nominee Andy Biggs.
But another candidate for governor of the Grand Canyon State was also on the president's mind.
Trump, at first, didn't name Kari Lake, the former television news anchor from Phoenix who lost the 2022 governor's race by less than 1 percentage point to Gov. Katie Hobbs. Lake was a fierce ally of Trump's and amplified his false claims he won the White House in 2020 during her run for governor four years ago.
"I want to give my respects to that person. She's a very good person. She suffered greatly," Trump said, calling Lake a "wonderful candidate." "She won that election. She probably won the
other one too."
Trump appeared to be referring to Lake's subsequent 2024 campaign for U.S. Senate, which she lost to Democrat Ruben Gallego.
Trump's remarks later returned to Lake as he raised grievances about people who don't want voters to prove citizenship or who don't support voter identification laws. Arizona already requires both.
"You know why? Because they want to cheat," he said. "But the Kari Lake situation was terrible. That was worse, that was worse than anything I've seen."
In 2022, about 30% of Maricopa County's voting centers had problems when printers produced ballots too light to be read by tabulators. That caused delays at some polling locations or required voters to cast provisional ballots. An independent review later commissioned by the county found the problems were due to the long length and thicker paper used for the ballots, not fraud or wrongdoing.
The president claimed a judge wouldn't let Lake's claims about broken voting machines be fairly adjudicated, and he said the machines used in 2022 were "broken in Republican areas" and "broken purposefully."
The Arizona Republic debunked the geography-based claim — finding in 2022 that the troubled polling places were about evenly splitbetween precincts going for either candidate for governor.
Lake also filed lawsuits following her loss to Hobbs, and Maricopa County judges conducted multiple trials in which she made her case that issues with ballot tabulators, signature verification or long lines in Maricopa County were sufficient reason to declare her Arizona's 24th governor.
But the courts said, and appeals judges later confirmed, she did not prove misconduct or fraud that altered the outcome of the election.
Trump in May nominated Lake to serve as ambassador to Jamaica, though her confirmation has been delayed amid opposition. He'd previously tapped her to lead the U.S. Agency for Global Media, where Lake decimated international media programs like Voice of America, which was founded as a counterbalance to Nazi propaganda.
Lake is not on the ballot this year, but Trump returned to the Grand Canyon State to complain about Hobbs and urge GOP voters to support Hobbs' Republican opponent, Biggs. A five-term congressman and former state lawmaker, Biggs was one of the few statewide candidates who made the trip to Bullhead City.
Reach reporter Stacey Barchenger at stacey.barchenger@arizonarepublic.com or 480-416-5669.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Kari Lake’s losses front of mind as Trump campaigns for Andy Biggs
