Last week’s GOP US Senate debate between Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb and former TV News Anchor Kari Lake got heated when Lake accused the Sheriff of being a “coward.” Lake, whose life since the 2022 campaign, and whose campaign for US Senate, has largely focused on claims that she lost the 2022 gubernatorial race due to election fraud, accused Lamb of being a coward for not sharing her view and using the power of his office to advance her goals.
For his part, Sheriff Lamb has responded by accusing Lake of slapping the “face of every man and woman who wears a badge and uniform and upholds our laws.”
Lamb says Lake’s “coward” comment “shows a fundamental misunderstanding of how our justice system works.”
“Those of us in law enforcement deal with bullies like her and much worse every day. No one gets special treatment. Not even Kari Lake. I get it. Kari Lake is upset that she lost her election. It’s time she takes some personal responsibility for losing an election she was supposed to win.” said Lamb.
“While I personally didn’t allow her comment to upset me, as I’ve been called worse, it’s obvious that Kari Lake thinks our justice system and laws exist to benefit her, without regard to evidence or facts,” said Lamb. “I took an oath of office to support and defend the U.S. Constitution and uphold law and justice. I have to deal with facts, not opinions or feelings.”
According to Lamb, he has “received numerous calls and texts from supporters stating that they were appalled by Kari Lake’s comment that I am a “coward” for not doing her bidding regarding the 2022 election results.”
Lamb said that he “encouraged individuals regardless of political party affiliation to bring solid evidence of election violations to me, so that the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office could investigate and potentially prosecute these bad actors, ” but that Lake never “presented anything to me indicating widespread material evidence of fraud.”
“Kari’s use of the word “coward” is a slap in the face to every man and woman that upholds our laws and wears a badge and uniform. Her blatant disregard for the rule of law is not what Arizonans would expect someone running for the United States Senate to ever say, especially during what was supposed to be a civilized political discussion,” explained Lamb.
In a press release on the subject, Lamb noted that Lake is suffering from a 55 percent negative approval rating and points out that his polling numbers are significantly better than Lake’s.
“If anyone was wondering why Kari Lake was ducking debates with Mark Lamb, this debate answered those questions.” said one consultant who is watching this AZ Senate race from afar. “Not only is she still a broken record on claiming her election was stolen, even as she watches her own poll numbers crater, but she won’t stop presenting herself as bitter and mean, while (Democrat nominee Ruben) Gallego is out there campaigning as a war hero. It is political suicide.”
The consultant did indicate that he thought Lake would still win the primary based solely on her endorsement from former President Donald Trump.
In fact, Pinal County was one of very few counties where real investigations took place concerning serious issues with the 2022 General Election. An investigation was conducted by county officials and on Dec. 7th of 2022, Pinal County Attorney Kent Volkmer and other election officials took part in a phone call with then Secretary of State Katie Hobbs’ office to report obvious ballot tabulation discrepancies compared to the Nov. 21 canvass.
It was through Pinal County’s investigation that Republican candidate for Attorney General, Abe Hamadeh, narrowed his margin behind now Attorney General Kris Mayes to a mere 280 votes, with thousands left uncounted across the state. Gains made by Lake at the same time did little to dent the much larger lead held by Katie Hobbs.
The scandal grew larger when it was revealed that it was Hobbs who kept the results of the investigation quiet and neither the investigation report nor its existence was made known to Hamadeh or the Mohave County judge preparing for the evidentiary trial in the Attorney General election challenge.
Hamadeh eventually lost that challenge, but it continues to wind its way through the appellate system.