Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, who has pushed false conspiracies in regards to the 2020 presidential election, has seen a wave of support from corporate leaders in her bid for office.
Lake within the third quarter alone received over a dozen checks, each price $5,300, from corporate leaders, based on state campaign finance records.
That quantity is the utmost a person can provide toward a candidate running for statewide office in Arizona. The third-quarter filing shows Lake’s campaign raised $3.5 million from July 17 through Sept. 30, and had $1.8 million available going into October. It was Lake’s best fundraising quarter this yr.
Lake is one in all a minimum of 20 Republicans running for governor who’ve either disputed or outright denied the outcomes of the 2020 presidential election that saw President Joe Biden defeat then-President Donald Trump. If she becomes governor, Lake would have the power to sign or veto laws related to election procedures.
Corporate leaders have contributed across the country to Republican candidates for state and federal office who’ve sowed doubts in regards to the 2020 election results — and will have power to influence voting or results in the event that they win.
Lake, a former TV news anchor who’s running to interchange the term-limited Republican Gov. Doug Ducey, is running a competitive race against his Democratic opponent, Arizona’s Secretary of State Katie Hobbs. The Cook Political Report rates the race as a toss-up. Lake leads Hobbs by about 1 percentage point in a mean of polls compiled by FiveThirtyEight.
Lake is endorsed by Trump, who has spread false conspiracies that he lost that 2020 election due to widespread voter fraud. He helped to fuel the wave of GOP candidates casting doubts on the 2020 results. Dozens of lawsuits from the Trump campaign failed to point out evidence of voter fraud or overturn leads to swing states.
Ducey certified Arizona’s 2020 election results. In the course of the GOP primary for his seat, he ripped Lake in a July interview with CNN, saying she is “misleading voters with no evidence.” After Lake won the nomination a month later, Ducey — the co-chair of the Republican Governors Association, a gaggle that goals to elect candidates for governor — congratulated her on her victory and said the group was running ads in support of her.
Hobbs, because the state’s top election official, has denied any irregularities within the 2020 election.
Underscoring the importance of the Arizona contest, each parties have piled money into the swing-state governor’s race. It has attracted a minimum of $30 million in ad spending, making it probably the most expensive gubernatorial contests this yr, based on data from AdImpact. Election Day is on Nov. 8.
Wealthy leaders of corporations based each in Arizona and across the country boosted Lake’s bid within the third quarter.
George Ryan, the CEO and chair of tax consulting firm Ryan LLC, donated $5,300 in September to Lake’s campaign, records show. Leo Beus, an attorney and founding member of the firm Beus Gilbert McGroder, donated the identical amount that month. Robert Zarnegin, the president and CEO of real estate firm Probity International Corp., donated $5,300 to Lake’s political organization in late August.
Dave Alexander, founding father of Caljet, one in all the biggest motor fuel storage corporations within the U.S., contributed $5,300 in August; Ronald Cameron, chair of the board of chicken-processing company Mountaire Corp., donated $5,300 in September; John Goodman, the chair of Goodman Real Estate, gave $5,300 a month earlier. Goodman reportedly owns a garage stuffed with Ferraris and Corvettes, together with a yacht marina.
The rich donors to Lake’s campaign are the newest business heads moving to finance a Republican candidate who has made false claims about each the 2020 election and the present 2022 contest.
Lake claimed before winning the GOP primary that if she lost, it could have been attributable to “some cheating occurring.” After winning the first, Lake said, “We out-voted the fraud.”
In a recent interview with ABC News’ Jonathan Karl, the gubernatorial hopeful said she’s going to accept the outcomes of the election, even when she loses, if “now we have a good, honest and transparent election.” But based on Karl, Lake offered up other unsubstantiated points in regards to the 2020 election, including the false claim that Maricopa County accepted 2,000 ballots after Election Day two years ago. Biden defeated Trump in Arizona in the course of the last election by lower than a percentage point.
Almost all the corporate executives mentioned on this story didn’t return requests for comment, including questions on which of Lake’s policy proposals they support.
Alexander confirmed to CNBC that he supports Lake, but declined to comment further.
Beyond the company leaders, Lake also received donations within the third quarter from the political motion committee of CRH Americas, a building-materials company that has a presence within the U.S. but is headquartered in Ireland. CRH Americas PAC contributed $2,500 to Lake in September.
A spokesperson for CRH Americas didn’t reply to a request for comment.
An Arizona-based worker PAC for Southwest Gas, an organization that gives thousands and thousands of individuals across the country with natural gas, also contributed $5,300.
In an announcement, a Southwest Gas spokeswoman said the corporate’s worker PAC “is nonpartisan and evaluates and supports candidates from all parties based on several criteria, including their commitment to a balanced, sustainable energy future and Kari Lake is one in all those candidates.”