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Former Vice President Mike Pence is endorsing Arizona gubernatorial candidate Karyn Taylor Robeson, an entrepreneur who has long been involved in Republican politics, over former President Donald Trump’s nominee, Kari Lake, a former TV host who continues to falsely claim that the 2020 election . was stolen.”
The endorsement illustrates the division in the party between Trump supporters who value loyalty to him above all else and those who want to continue endless litigation about the 2020 election, including those who are grateful that Pence and other Republicans blocked Trump’s attempts to overturn the results. Trump and Pence, who are considering a run for president in 2024, plan to be in Arizona on Friday to campaign for their chosen candidates ahead of the Aug. 2 primary.
Pence called Taylor Robeson “the best choice for Arizona’s future” in a statement provided to The Washington Post. “As Arizona Democrats pursue the reckless Biden-Harris agenda, Karyn Taylor Robeson is the only gubernatorial candidate who will keep Arizona’s border secure and streets safe, empower parents and create great schools and promote conservative values “, he said.
Taylor Robson praised Pence’s conservative credentials and said she wants to lead like him.
“Modern politics is full of charlatans and fakes, but Vice President Pence is the genuine article,” she said in a statement to The Post. “He has never wavered in his conservative beliefs and commitment to our Constitution, and he has left a solid legacy as governor that I will strive for.”
The endorsement comes two months after Pence and other prominent Republicans lined up behind Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R), whom Trump targeted for certification in the 2020 election. Kemp won in a landslide. But Arizona’s gubernatorial primary looks much tighter, raising the stakes for Pence. Friday’s split-screen campaign events will highlight Pence’s break with the former president, as he also resisted pressure to overturn Trump’s 2020 loss.
Taylor Robeson also has the support of Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R), a longtime Pence friend and ally who co-chairs the Republican Governors Association and similarly drew Trump’s ire for certifying the results of the last election.
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Lake and Taylor Robson do not offer dramatically different visions on issues such as the economy and water conservation. Both want the state to take a stronger stance on border security, for example, and want to complete Trump’s border wall. But they diverge on the 2020 election.
Lake called the election system “rotten to the core” and claimed, without evidence, that thousands of fraudulent votes were cast in 2020: “I refuse to stop talking about this until our elected official stands up and does something. We want people arrested, prosecuted and jailed.
In television debate in June, Lake repeated the falsehood of widespread election fraud and said Joe Biden “lost the election and should not be in the White House.” She said she would not confirm the results of the Arizona election.
During the debate, Taylor Robeson, who voted for Trump in 2016 and 2020 and helped raise $1.3 million for his two presidential campaigns, agreed that the 2020 election “wasn’t absolutely fair ‘, but I wouldn’t say they’re fraudulent.
She cited new voting rules and laws introduced by some jurisdictions amid the pandemic and the so-called big tech and media suppression of information harmful to Democrats.
“All of these things combined have resulted in 78 percent of Arizona Republicans feeling that something is wrong with the election,” she said during the debate. “But I’m focused on 2022 because the left is 10 steps ahead of us and I don’t have time to explain what they’re doing.”
Taylor Robson said he will accept the results of the gubernatorial election. Lake said at a recent campaign event that Taylor Robson’s rivals “may be trying to set the stage for another heist”.
Emily Ryan, a conservative political consultant in Arizona, said the gubernatorial race showcases a national struggle for GOP identity, with two front-runners who share many of the same conservative policy positions but represent different governing styles.
“There’s a part of the Republican Party that’s not happy with the direction Trump has taken the party and this brand of politics, and they’re kind of trying to take back control,” Ryan said.
In a statement last week, a Lake spokesman slammed Taylor Robeson’s supporters as “Republicans in name only,” one of Trump’s favorite insults. “The RINO establishment ranks behind Karin Taylor Robson,” spokesman Ross Trumble wrote in an email.
A Pence adviser said the former vice president would visit the border on Friday, joined by Taylor Robeson and Brandon Judd, who is president of the National Border Patrol Council and has endorsed her. Pence will also head to Phoenix, said the aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the endorsement more openly.
Trump is scheduled to appear at a rally in northern Arizona the same day to campaign for Lake and a slate of his preferred statewide candidates. Originally planned to visit last weekend, but rescheduled for Friday following the death of his ex-wife Ivana Trump.
The adviser said Pence saw Taylor Robeson as “the most conservative candidate in the race” and was considering an endorsement before Ducey announced his support on July 7. Pence and Ducey became close during Ducey’s 2014 run for governor, and Pence wants to help Ducey in his final year as governor and RGA chairman, people close to the two men said.
A Pence adviser also noted Lake’s attacks on Pence last month after he visited the border in Arizona. Lake told Newsmax that he doesn’t think Pence has a “snowball’s chance in Phoenix of winning” if he runs for president in 2024, and said many people are “disappointed” in him because of his actions on January 6, 2021, when he helped certify the election after pro-Trump rioters attacked the US Capitol.
“I think that was something that we as advisers were frustrated with, and it certainly refocused our attention on this race,” the Pence adviser said of Lake’s criticism.
Lake, a one-time Democrat in the early years of President Barack Obama’s first term, is running as an America-first populist in the Trump mold. She secured his support about a year ago and has spent the intervening time building a passionate base fueled by her embrace of baseless conspiracy theories and divisive culture war issues. including accusing drag queens of being dangerous to children and defending the placement of cameras in classrooms to ensure that teachers do not teach critical curriculum related to race theory.
Taylor Robson campaigned as a more traditional low-tax, smaller-government Conservative focused on business-friendly policies. She has trailed Lake well in the polls for most of the race, but has recently closed in until she far surpassed Lake, breaking campaign spending records in the state.
With early voting now underway, Pence’s endorsement could help moderate Republicans and independent voters who have sought GOP ballots, particularly in outlying Phoenix suburbs that have helped settle close races in recent years. The former vice president has also long been popular among Christian conservatives. Republicans Scott Neely and Paola Tulliani Zen are also vying for the GOP nomination.
Some see Pence’s endorsement as risky for Taylor Robeson because it would highlight the national currents shaping the race.
“Do you really want to stand up to Trump or do you just want to keep telling your own story?” Chuck Coughlin, an Arizona political strategist whose firm works with Republican candidates, said amid reports that Pence may put on weight. “And my feeling is that Pence’s endorsement makes it more for Trump.”
But for Pence, Coughlin said, the Arizona governor’s race is an opportunity to send a message and possibly participate in a victory.
“You think about Iowa,” he said, referring to the state that traditionally kicks off the presidential primary season. “You’re thinking about the next two years.”
With a possible campaign of his own on the horizon, Pence was obstructs Republican candidates across the country and has the Advancing American Freedom Foundation, which advocates for conservative causes such as abortion restrictions. Pence’s Foundation for the Advancement of American Freedom recently made a six-figure contribution to an ad campaign by the anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, which will support anti-abortion legislation at the state level, according to a Pence adviser.
Pence’s Jan. 6 tightrope: Owning his role as he woos Trump voters
Pence’s endorsement of Taylor Robeson marks his biggest endorsement since he campaigned in Georgia with Kemp, who easily defeated Trump’s handpicked challenger, former Sen. David Perdue. Pence has described the race as a referendum on the direction of the Republican Party.
“When you say yes to Gov. Brian Kemp tomorrow, you will send a resounding message across America that the Republican Party is the party of the future,” he told an Atlanta-area crowd on the eve of the primary. Republican governors across the country, including Ducey, rallied to defend incumbents against Trump-backed primary challengers amid what one former governor called a “personal vendetta tour.”
Trump governors in Idaho and Nebraska also suffered defeats this year. But the former president’s endorsement remains coveted in GOP primaries and has given House and Senate candidates a significant boost.
Pence and Trump also endorsed Sarah Sanders, a former White House press secretary, for governor of Arkansas. And last…
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