Kari Lake thanks Liz Cheney for ‘anti-endorsement’ attack ad

Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake sarcastically thanked Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., for her new ad encouraging the state’s voters to reject Republican election deniers on Saturday, saying it brought more awareness and donations to her campaign.

“Thank you for your generous in-kind contribution to my campaign. Your recent television ad urging Arizonans not to vote for me is doing just the opposite,” Lake said in a letter posted to Twitter.

“Our campaign donations are skyrocketing and our website nearly crashed from traffic as people rushed to learn more about my plan to put Arizona First and join our historic political movement.”

A PAC sponsored by Cheney, who has served as the vice chair of the House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack, announced a $500,000 ad buy on Friday. In the commercial, the Wyoming Republican asked Arizona voters not to vote for Lake and Mark Finchem, the GOP nominee for secretary of state, who have both amplified former President Donald Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was stolen.

“I don’t know that I’ve ever voted for a Democrat, but if I lived in Arizona, I absolutely would,” Cheney says in the ad. “If you care about the survival of our republic, you cannot give people power who will not honor elections.”

Cheney lost her primary election to Harriet Hageman, a Trump-backed challenger, with 28.9% of the vote to Hageman’s 66.3%.

Lake highlighted Cheney’s primary loss after calling the commercial an “anti-endorsement” and predicted it would boost her lead over her Democratic opponent, Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs.

“Enjoy your forced retirement from politics. I know America will rest easier knowing that one more warmonger is out of office,” wrote Lake.

Hobbs is trailing Lake by around 3.2 points, according to RealClearPolitics’ polling average as of Saturday. The last poll, conducted by InsiderAdvantage, showed Lake with a whopping 11-point lead over Hobbs.