Iowa weekly reports on local native who was journalist but runs on Trump's vote-fraud lie for Ariz. governor, and leads

Kari Lake (Screenshot of part of North Scott Press website)

UPDATE, Aug. 4: The Associated Press called the race for Lake, who faces Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs in the general election.

When she was growing up in eastern Iowa, Kari Lake was on the student newspaper staff at North Scott High School in Eldridge, starting a career in journalism. Today, she is the leading Republican candidate for governor of Arizona in Tuesday's primary, waving Donald Trump's flag and "focusing heavily on border security, Christianity in public schools, and perpetuating Trump’s lie about fraud in the 2020 presidential election," reports Mark Ridolfi of The North Scott Press, in a "Local girl makes splash" story that is more incisive than most. 

Ridolfi reports on locals who have made financial contributions to Lake's campaign: "Most, but not all, support her politics." Susan Castro, a Republican and retired teacher, told him, "She doesn’t follow everything I believe in. But No. 1, she’s local. No. 2, she’s a woman." Still, "Lake’s hard right turn into politics surprised some of her Scott County friends and acquaintances."

Lake was a broadcast journalist for most of her adult life, starting out in the Quad Cities area of Iowa and Illinois, which includes Scott County. From 1994 until last year, she was at KSAZ-TV in Phoenix. "Arizona voting records show she registered as an independent, and later as a Democrat in 2008," Ridolfi reports. "She supported Obama in his first run against Arizona Sen. John McCain. In June 2021, she said America’s long war in Afghanistan motivated her move to the GOP."

Ridolfi quotes at length from C-SPAN's recording of Lake at July 22 rally, including: “This generation had so many things taken from them. They didn’t get prom. They didn’t get to ask the girl to prom. Didn’t get first kiss. It didn’t have to happen this way. They know who’s with them and who’s against them. Fake news won’t even cover it. They just want to attack us. How many of you don’t watch the corrupt corporate news anymore?” Speaking of President Biden, she said, “Fake news wants us to believe that guy got 81 million votes.” The Washington Post looks at Lake's ideas for elections.

UPDATE, Aug. 2: Jon Allsop of Columbia Journalism Review does a deep dive into the Lake story: When she retired, she said, “I found myself reading news copy that I didn’t believe was fully truthful, or only told part of the story, and I began to fear that I was contributing to the fear and division in this country by continuing on in this profession. . . . Not everyone is dedicated to telling the truth, but thankfully many of you have figured that out. I promise you: if you hear it from my lips, it will be truthful.”