A new analysis by the Arizona Republic shows Kari Lake owes her defeat to a large number of GOP voter defections (story here).
The newspaper says “Lake’s loss boils down to the fact that she alienated vast swaths of her fellow Republicans.” They determined this by examining the ballots of voters who supported other Republican candidates but didn’t vote for Lake.
They found that “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.”
This means roughly 39,000 Republican voters in Arizona’s most populous county can’t stand Kari Lake. That’s not a huge number in relative terms; it represents about 3% of the total statewide Republican vote, and perhaps 5% of Maricopa County’s GOP voter base, in that election. But it was fatal to her candidacy; Hobbs won by 17,117 votes.
Hobbs wasn’t an exceptionally popular candidate; even some Democrats admitted she’s a mediocrity. But even given a less than ideal opponent, it’s very hard to justify a vote for Lake. She has no experience at governing, she’s a nutjob who embraces wild conspiracy theories, and is capable of vile behavior (for an example, go here). Even some Republican voters felt she’s unfit for office.
Think she’ll learn anything from it? Don’t bet on it. That would require her to admit she was a lousy candidate. Her ego is far too large — and her brain far too small — for that to ever happen.