When Kari Lake lost the Arizona governor’s race in November, political experts generally agreed it was because she alienated Republican-leaning voters. A new analysis puts hard numbers on that phenomenon, showing Maricopa County voters who backed GOP candidates in less prominent races shunned Lake.
Those decisions made a profound difference: Democrat Katie Hobbs picked up the support of 33,000 Maricopa County voters who cast ballots for Republicans in six down-ballot races, such as state treasurer and county attorney. Adding to Lake’s deficit were another nearly 6,000 Republican-leaning voters who opted to skip the race altogether or wrote in a candidate, the analysis found.
If those voters had stuck with the GOP ticket, Lake would have won. She lost by 17,117 votes statewide.
“She just ran a terrible campaign,” said Benny White, one of the authors of the study that analyzed voting patterns in the Nov. 8 general election.
“It doesn’t help to call Republicans RINOs,” said White, himself a Republican.
The GOP candidates for U.S. Senate, secretary of state and attorney general also saw a similar drop off in support, although to differing degrees.