Virginia governor Glenn Youngkin, a rising star in Republican politics, recently announced that he will be stumping for Arizona GOP gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake. Typically, this would not be a particularly newsworthy story item. Republican elected officials make appearances on behalf of fellow party members all the time. But Lake is not a typical candidate.
Lake, a former Democrat who backed John Kerry in 2004 and Barack Obama in 2008, has been embroiled in a series of controversies since the outset of her candidacy. Belying Lake’s rightfully critical remarks about exposing children to adult entertainment, Rick Stevens, an Arizona drag queen, said he came to Lake’s home at her invitation to put on a show in front of her young daughter. She denies these allegations. Lake also endorsed Jarrin Jackson, the antisemitic candidate for the Oklahoma state senate, which she later retracted after his past comments resurfaced.
Most notably, Lake has made 2020 election denialism the centerpiece of her campaign. While many Republicans have bought into and propagated this pernicious falsity, Lake has stood out from the pack as one of the chief proponents of the Big Lie.
After the Maricopa County presidential-ballot audit determined that no mass electoral fraud transpired, she insisted the presidential election in Arizona be “decertified” without corroborating evidence to back her claims, even though no decertification mechanism exists. Lake has advocated imprisoning journalists who disagree with her about these assertions, as well as Arizona secretary of state Katie Hobbs, her general-election opponent, on the basis of unsubstantiated allegations of criminality related to the 2020 election. What’s most concerning about Lake’s 2020 trutherism is that, if elected, she will potentially be in a position to sway the 2024 Arizona presidential-election result in favor of the Republican nominee, regardless of her state’s vote totals.
One might agree with Lake more than Hobbs on matters of policy, but if we are to preserve our republic, threats of this nature cannot be tolerated. Youngkin is better than this. Contrary to progressive contentions, he appears to have a robust moral compass.
Beyond the ethical concerns, there are political pitfalls awaiting Youngkin if he goes ahead with his plans. Admittedly, there are obvious incentives for him to go to Arizona, prove he’s a reliable party man to the Republican Governors Association, and endear himself to GOP primary voters if he ultimately decides to run for the White House in two years. Ron DeSantis, another widely speculated 2024 hopeful, recently did something similar by campaigning on behalf of Doug Mastriano, who is running for governor in Pennsylvania and is also an election denier.
But Youngkin has crafted a different political brand from DeSantis. Contrary to Chris Rufo’s account, Youngkin won in 2021 by being a sensible culture warrior. He denounced CRT and the infiltration of wokeness into the public-school system without straying too far from traditional GOP concerns. Most important, he didn’t fully embrace Trump. Unlike DeSantis, he’s not a firebrand. He has broad appeal that an appearance with Lake would weaken.
Youngkin also should hew closely to the lane he has staked out for himself. Trump sycophants are clogging up the rest of the road. Joining their caravan of conspiracism as the laggard doesn’t help his cause. If Trump chooses not to run in 2024, Youngkin is better off contrasting himself with the bombastic Florida governor than mimicking him.