Opinion: Kari Lake hasn’t even lost, but the conspiracy crowd is already tuning up

The election in Arizona isn’t over. The votes still are being counted, yet heeeere we go.

The conspiracy crowd and the professional grifters who make money off or gain notoriety by feeding their frenzy are beginning to tune up their same old sorry song.

“Kari Lake stolen from us again!” wrote one Trump supporter on X, formerly Twitter.

“There is NO FREAKING WAY that Arizona is voting Trump but NOT for Kari!! IT’S BS!!” wrote another.

Actually, it’s exactly what public opinion polls have shown for most of the last year, but don’t let me get in the way of imaginary intrigue.

Some Kari Lake supporters don’t think she’s losing

“Apparently, in Arizona, everyone who voted for Kamala also voted for Kari Lake,” one political genius pointed out. “And there are almost 47,000 fewer votes for Senator than for President. I don’t believe this s— for a second.”

“Unbelievable!” wrote another.

“So you’re trying to tell me that people voted for Trump then turned around and voted for Ruben Gallego and other Democrats at the state level?” wrote Josh Barnett, a hard right Republican who lost his state Senate race in the July primary.

“There’s no f—ing way that happened. I’m not buying it.”

Opinion:Interview shows exactly why Lake’s losing

I am, having talked to countless John McCain-style Republicans and independents who voted for Trump but couldn’t bring themselves to vote for Lake.

Some of them — the ones still trying to get her celebrated stake out of their backs — said they voted for Gallego. Others said they just left the race blank.

They drum conspiracy, despite no election glitches

Count on Rachel Alexander, a former lawyer who now amps up conspiracy theories for a conservative website, to blow smoke, hoping to bring forth flame.

“All evening Trump’s lead in Arizona has been increasing …,” she wrote on Tuesday evening. “Ruben Gallego still leads Kari Lake by over 100,000 votes, and due to that and the baby killing measure looking likely to pass, I am afraid there has been election fraud here.

“My guess is they targeted a few races/propositions where they thought they could explain away the cheating. Can’t wait to start investigating this fraud.”

Me? I can’t wait to hear who “they” is because from what I witnessed on Tuesday, Arizona’s election went fairly smoothly, especially in Maricopa County.

No wholesale printer failures. No four-hour lines. Not so much as a single mule spotted.

Surely, if the Republicans who run Maricopa County were hell bent on sabotaging Kari Lake, they also would have ensured that Rep. Justin Heap, the MAGA Republican who ousted Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer in the GOP primary, would have been sent packing.

Instead, he defeated Democrat Tim Stringham.

Kari Lake is still fighting her 2022 loss

Surely, if the Democrats were plotting to stuff ballot boxes, they would have stuffed in a few more votes for Kamala Harris. Trump, after all, was their No. 1 target.

But no.

Lake appears to be losing, so the fix must be in. Just as they claimed in 2022 that the fix was in — a “stolen” election she continues to fight in court.

If Lake is still not conceding a two-year-old loss, what hope do we have that she’ll do the gracious thing in 2024?

The conspiracy crowd will do what the conspiracy crowd will do, I suppose. For now, efforts to undermine democracy appear baked into Arizona’s elections any time a Republican is losing.

“Push for an audit,” one skeptic wrote.

“That is what they do, they knew better than to cheat big so they keep local power,” wrote another.

“Some massive corruption in the counting going on,” wrote still another.

“Rigged. Need a federal investigation,” wrote yet another. “Katie Hobbs behind it.”

“Something stinks,” wrote another.

It certainly does.

Reach Roberts at laurie.roberts@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on X (formerly Twitter) at @LaurieRobertsaz and on Threads at @LaurieRobertsaz.

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