OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Kari Lake, a former news reporter campaigning to be the next governor of Arizona with the backing of former President Donald Trump, just got some fantastic news.
She is the frontrunner for the Republican nomination and a recent poll shows that has not changed, Breitbart News reported.
“2022 #AZGov Republican Primary Poll: Kari Lake 40% Karrin Taylor Robson 35% Scott Neely 3% Paola Tulliani-Zen 2% Undecided 21% @OHPredictive ~ 515 LV ~ 6/30-7/2,” Poll Tracker reported on Twitter.
2022 #AZGov Republican Primary Poll:
Kari Lake 40%
Karrin Taylor Robson 35%
Scott Neely 3%
Paola Tulliani-Zen 2%
Undecided 21%@OHPredictive ~ 515 LV ~ 6/30-7/2https://t.co/fsqV0i8UYf— PollTracker (@PollTrackerUSA) July 6, 2022
“The poll comes after former Rep. Matt Salmon (R-AZ) dropped out of the race last week, making the primary election essentially a two-woman race between Lake and Robson,” Breitbart reported.
A press release announcing the poll explained.
About a week ago, Salmon pulled himself out of the race, leaving both Robson and Lake fighting for undecided voters. In the recent survey, Arizona likely voters were asked whom they would vote for, both with and without Salmon as an option. With Salmon still in the line-up – earning 6% support – Arizona likely voters placed Kari Lake 8 points ahead of Karrin Taylor Robson (31%), showing an increase in support compared to April for Lake (+10%) and Robson (+9%), but a drop for Salmon (-5%). With the former Congressman removed from the list, Robson benefits most with a +13% growth since April compared to Kari Lake’s +11%.
“Seeing the comparison with and without Salmon gives an even closer look into what’s going to happen at the polling booths in August,” said Mike Noble, OHPI Chief of Research. “Although Lake has kept a steady lead, Robson is the clear beneficiary in Salmon’s drop-out; this plus his more recent endorsement might be just what Robson needs to stay competitive in this primary.”
With Matt Salmon’s exit from the race for Governor, most of his voters (80%) flock towards Karrin Taylor Robson, which comes as no surprise as Salmon endorsed Robson shortly after his withdrawal from the race. Robson also picks up virtually all of Salmon’s women voters and most of his voters over 65 years old, aiding her strength among this demographic. Meanwhile, Kari Lake maintains her stronger lead among men (41%) and voters under 65 years old (40%), as well as those in Pima County (43%).
In May, Lake, is not frightened of taking on the media, like the man who endorsed her, former President Donald Trump.
“I offered my border policy to the Arizona Republic. Your management refused to take it unless I took out the word invasion, which tells me that you guys are on the side of the cartels,” the candidate said to the reporter.
“Then why did you agree to do an interview?” the reporter said.
“Because you’ve been pestering me nonstop,” the candidate said.
“That’s true,” the reporter said.
“The only discussion that the Arizona Republic is interested in is a far-left discussion. And Stacy, you’ve been here 10 months you don’t understand Arizona. I’m sorry to say that. I’m out with people every day. I’m out with hundreds of people every day, 1000s of people some days. They’re fed up but what’s happening at our border. I appreciate your time. We gave you one more question, you asked the question. We’ve given you probably what, five or 10 minutes longer? I appreciate your time, but I’m really prepared for another hit piece from the Republic. The good news is our polling is showing that every day you guys write a hit piece on me or every week, and it’s not sticking because the good people of Arizona—who I have a relationship with and I’ve had a relationship with for 27 years—are not buying the garbage that you guys are peddling,” the candidate said.
“I don’t understand why you are attacking my you know, having lived here a short period of time. This is a state of newcomers,” the reporter said.
“I’m just saying Stacy you don’t understand what the people of Arizona want. You don’t understand the people because you haven’t had a relationship like I have for 27 years. And you’re here for 10 months acting like you know what the people of Arizona want when it comes to the border. The people of Arizona want to secure state. The people of Arizona want to make sure their kids don’t get their hands on drugs. The people of Arizona want to make sure that the cartels no longer have operational control of our border. And we will when I am governor, take back control of our border. We will finish President Trump’s wall, we will send our Arizona National Guard down to the border, and we will arm them. We’re not going to let people over and when we find people we’re going to send them back,” the candidate said.
To the candidate’s point, Arizona Republican Attorney General Mark Brnovich is sounding the alarm on the crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border.
During an interview on Fox News, Brnovich slammed Joe Biden’s “failed” immigration policies.
“Every time you think … we’ve hit rock bottom, something else happens,” he said. “There’s a record amount of people flooding into this country this year. Just last week, our office was involved in a record amount of fentanyl seized. Americans are dying. Our cities are more dangerous as a result of the failed Biden administration’s policies.”
Cartels “have seized operational control” of the southern border, Brnovich said, adding that Arizona has seized more than 6 million fentanyl pills over the past week alone.
