AZ Republican Gubernatorial Primary Debate: Unqualified, Unfit for Office, and an Insult to the Intelligence Of Voters

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I finally got around to watching the one and only Republican gubernatorial candidate debate from last week, and OH MY GOD! This is entirely disqualifying for all of these candidates. None of them should be allowed to even appear on a ballot, let alone receive votes to be the nominee of the Republican Party.

https://twitter.com/joss_berry/status/1542183904244686848

The Arizona Republican Party hit rock bottom and grabbed a pick and kept on digging. These are candidates for the state mental hospital, not for governor of Arizona. This is political malpractice for a political party to put forward such an unqualified and unfit slate of candidates. They represent a clear and present danger to the future of Arizona.

This was almost an hour of my life that I will never get back. If you are really into watching train wrecks, you can watch the video below. I think Republicans, Democrats and Independents will all agree, voters deserve better than this. This is an insult to their intelligence. Voters deserve to be treated with some respect.

Business Insider reports, The Trump-backed frontrunner in Arizona’s gubernatorial race said the GOP primary debate felt ‘like a spoof’:

Republican candidates Kari Lake, Scott Neely, Karrin Taylor Robson, and Paola Tulliani Zen, all vying for governor of Arizona, spent Wednesday evening talking over each other, spreading misinformation, and wondering whether or not they were in a real-life “Saturday Night Live” skit.

If SNL was not on summer hiatus, I can almost guarantee that this shitshow of a debate would have been parodied on Saturday night. With drag queens.

The debate, moderated by Ted Simons, host of “Arizona Horizon” on Arizona PBS, featured Robson repeatedly calling Lake “Fake Lake” for alleging she supported mask mandates, Neely saying he would take steel to the border wall himself to finish it, and Neely saying, unprompted, that he hadn’t “been on a stage with this many women since I’ve been to a baby shower.”

Neely, who made some of the most outlandish comments, called Lake’s campaign a “PSYOP,” short for a military tactic known as psychological operations.

Twitter reacts to the pure insanity that was Arizona’s Republican primary for governor debate (excerpts):

“God they talk over me and I’m Italian, that shouldn’t happen,” Tulliani Zen says. Before she can finish her next sentence, she’s interrupted by Neely who replies, “I’m Irish.”

https://twitter.com/EmmaIsAinmDom/status/1543190783079190533?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1543190783079190533%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fmashable.com%2Farticle%2Farizona-republican-primary-debate

Other choice quotes include Lake, a former nightly news anchor for FOX 10 in Arizona, stating that “200,000 ballots were trafficked [into Arizona] by mules,” a claim that has been widely debunked by auditors and Maricopa County officials. Later in the video, after arguments about election fraud in 2020, Lake says she “feels like I’m in an SNL skit,” which many Arizonans probably wish were the case. Then Neely, who owns a concrete supply business in Mesa, notes “I haven’t been on a stage with this many women since I’ve been to a baby shower.” Yikes.

“I don’t know how that’s gonna go over Scott but I’ll let that hang,” responded Ted Simons, the debate moderator, who seemed at least moderately self-aware.

Reactions on Twitter ranged from disgust to horror and they came from voices on the left and right.

Mike Murphy, Republcian Politkcal Consultant

Meghan McCain

Alyssa Farah Griffin, White House director of strategic communications and former assistant to President Trump

Business Insider continues:

Both Lake and Robson also said they would support an Arizona law banning most abortions that passed before 1973’s Roe v. Wade decision. The law, which will take effect once again in the state, also includes provisions to criminalize abortion providers.

Simons’ efforts to keep the insults and tangential comments to a minimum proved futile. Tuliana-Zen even exclaimed “mamma mia” in frustration.

At one point in the debate, Lake asked if it was an “SNL” skit.

“I feel like this is a spoof, honestly,” Lake said. “Is this a spoof, Ted? Are you sure?”

Simmons ended the program by repeatedly saying “that’s it” as candidates continued to talk over him.

Arizona Horizon’s graphics department should have been prepared to help out old Ted.


Lake, endorsed by Trump, has recently been fighting a claim she was friends with Arizona drag personality Richard Stevens. Lake, who recently took an anti-drag queen stance, has called the allegations lies, despite the existence of photos of Lake and Stevens together.

After this train wreck of a debate was over, the moderator Ted Simons was declared the clear winner.

Laurie Roberts of The Republic summed up the debate for her fellow Republicans. This was the scariest moment in Arizona’s GOP governor’s debate. Be warned, America:

There was no shortage of cringeworthy moments during Thursday’s food fight, otherwise known as Arizona’s Republican gubernatorial debate.

There was the squabbling, of course, and the two leading candidates embracing their inner 8-year-old as they hurled insults at one another.

There was Scott Neely’s remark about his opponents, all of them accomplished in their respective professional fields: “I haven’t been on a stage with this many women since I’ve been to a baby shower.”

But the cringiest, creepiest, scariest moment of all was when Kari Lake asked for a show of hands of how many of the four candidates believe the 2020 presidential election was “corrupt and stolen.”

Three hands immediately shot up.

After all this, they think the election was stolen

After sample audits and a “full forensic audit” found no evidence that the election was rigged …

After eight unsuccessful lawsuits, including a two-day detailed hearing that produced no evidence that Trump was robbed …

After two independent investigations cleared the Dominion Voting Systems machinery and a third confirmed the election equipment was never hooked to the internet …

After a hand count of Maricopa County’s 2.1 million ballots confirmed the results of the election …

After every county election official in the state – both Republican and Democrat – certified the results as good and true, as did a Republican governor and a Republican attorney general …

After then-President Donald Trump’s own attorney general said there was no credible evidence of widespread fraud …

After millions of dollars wasted and 18 months of searching turned up no proof of any widespread conspiracy …

… three of Arizona’s four Republicans running for governor believe the election was stolen.

If Kari Lake loses, 2022 is fraudulent, too?

Only Karrin Taylor Robson hasn’t taken the swan dive of delusion down that rabbit hole, though she’s quick to assure Republican voters that she doesn’t believe the election was fair.

But she, at least, stopped short of crying “Fraud!” given the complete and total absence of any credible evidence.

Meanwhile, Kari Lake continues to spout utter nonsense about hundreds of thousands of conspiracy-laced ballots that resulted in a “corrupt” election and an “illegitimate president”. She even suggested that she might not accept the results of the Aug. 2 primary unless she’s the winner.

“We have a movement. Our campaign is a movement,” she said, when asked whether she would accept the results of the primary election. “We’re going to show up in droves. They are going to have to cheat even harder to win it.”

So there you have it. If Kari Lake loses, the election must be fraudulent. (Haven’t we seen this movie before?)

And scariest part?

Kari Lake may just win this thing.

No proof that voters returned to their senses

I’d say our beloved state is in a state of temporary insanity except 18 months of psychosis is hardly temporary and there’s no evidence that a good chunk of this state’s voters are returning to their senses.

Election deniers are leading in the polls for the state’s three top jobs: Blake Masters (Senate); Mark Finchem (secretary of state) and Lake (governor). This, as early ballots for the Aug. 2 primary hit mailboxes [on Wednesday].

Unless the non-deluded wing of the Republican Party prevails over the next month or Democrats somehow pull off a miracle in November, this swing state could well be about to careen from temporary insanity into full-blown, flat-out crazy.

As bellwethers go, this one should be clanging loudly all across the land.

Be afraid, America. Be very afraid.

If you are a loyal patriotic American who believes in American democracy you cannot in good conscience vote for any of these Republican candidates for governor. They represent a clear and present danger to the future of Arizona.

I have argued for years that Arizona voters should have the option that Nevada voters have to vote for “none of the above” on the ballot. This is a glaring example where that option is needed.

You can still write in “none of the above” on your Republican primary ballot, but it will not count as a vote.





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3 thoughts on “AZ Republican Gubernatorial Primary Debate: Unqualified, Unfit for Office, and an Insult to the Intelligence Of Voters”

  2. Is JK going on here to defend his “candidates”? At least the Horizon camera was at least eight feet away from these loons. Poor Ted. He needs a purple heart after this.

  3. Finally watched. What an embarrassment. Totally disgusted by their performance. These liars and fascists are a disgrace to us all regardless of party. Ducey isn’t this bad No experience, no morals, no ethics, just big lies and cult of dump cult members. If anyone of these idiots are voted in over Hobbs, my entire family is moving out of AZ, away from these fascists.

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