In Kari Lake's campaign for AZ governor, misinformation and deception remain hallmarks

Arizona Republic/AZCentral.com
Kari Lake stood outside Paradise Valley Town Hall for a live on-camera interview with Steve Bannon, the conservative provocateur and former Trump adviser, as a gaggle of reporters and supporters stood by.

It was Aug. 2, the morning of the primary election that would ultimately make Lake the Republican nominee for Arizona governor. As she talked to Bannon, Lake took her familiar digs at reporters. 

“They’re part of the propaganda machine,” she said. “The news is propaganda. They’re putting out what they want people to hear.”

The circumstances of her visit that day could have fit into that category, too.

About an hour earlier, Lake wrote on social media that she and her husband were "about to head to the polls. What about you?!" Her campaign issued a press release with the headline "Kari Lake at the polls," notifying reporters of her plans. Lake marched into Town Hall, which doubled as a polling place that day.

But she wasn’t there to vote.

Despite months spent raising doubt about elections, in particular early and mail-in voting, her own ballot was already in the hands of Maricopa County election officials. They had received it in the mail six days earlier, records show.

While some might view the incident as a political white lie, misinformation and in some cases outright deception are hallmarks of Lake's 17 months on the campaign trail. MORE