Jim Graham worries Pinal County is turning blue.
Despite this fear, the 65-year-old voter from Cobblestone Farms has this message for his GOP nominee for U.S. Senate: “If you want my vote, you need to come down and ask for it.”
Now with less than two months to go before Election Day, the underdog in a race for Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s seat hasn’t made an appearance in Maricopa, nor does she have one planned — but most odd is the lack of so much as a campaign sign in Pinal County’s most populous city.
In recent weeks, Maricopans have started asking #WhereIsKariLake? across social media platforms.
In the Republicans of Arizona Facebook group yesterday, Joanna Butler made a call for more Lake campaign signs around Maricopa while calling the candidate’s absence in the city into question.
“Why isn’t there any commercials for Kari Lake? I see them all the time for [Ruben Gallego] and [Kamala Harris] but not for Trump and Kari,” Butler wrote.
She’s not the only one lamenting. Santa Rosa Springs resident Barry Kammeyer posed several questions to Lake on the X platform, including if she even cares about Maricopans.
Why are you, your signs etc. M.I.A. in western Pinal county? Drive around Maricopa, its like your not even in the race……….Are we just not important to you? Are you interested in getting our votes?? #whereiskarilake
— Barry Kammeyer (@barry_kammeyer) August 27, 2024
“Why are you, your signs etc. M.I.A. in western Pinal County?” he asked. “Drive around Maricopa, it’s like you[’re] not even in the race.”
There is some truth to that claim. A drive down John Wayne Parkway is a clear indicator Lake is lacking signs compared to her rival, the Democrat Ruben Gallego.
For Chuck Coughlin, President and CEO of Highground in Phoenix and perhaps the state’s top political commentator, the answer is a simple but devastating double whammy: a lack of money and support.
“I have not seen any type of significant surge in her fundraising, which would reflect a confident electorate about her outcomes,” he told InMaricopa.
Basically, that means Lake hasn’t generated enough funds for a constant stream of commercials, campaign signs, magazine advertisements and whatever else may be needed to constantly be in the mind of voters.
“I think there’s a lack of confidence in the ability for her to overcome the obstacles that were in front of her,” he said, even among Republicans. “She lost the governor’s race, then insisted she didn’t lose it. She’s created this narrative obstacle for herself to be considered a serious candidate outside of the Republican primary.”
Coughlin added Lake’s extreme partisanship hasn’t helped her win over a majority of Republicans, let alone Independents, the largest voting bloc, and voters affiliated with other parties.
“You need votes in order to win a statewide election,” Coughlin said. “If you’re running as a partisan candidate, you need to win 85% of your own party and then you have to win a majority of unaffiliated voters. You cannot win with just your own party.”
