Kari Lake refuses to debate Mark Lamb, ending months of questions

U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake has formally declined to participate in a debate with her Republican rival Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb, leaving him with a solo question-and-answer appearance later this month.

Lake’s absence comes after she created controversy for herself with other sheriffs around the state when she referred to Lamb as a “total coward” in a forum that included both of them by video.

During her 2022 gubernatorial run, Lake also repeatedly referred to Democrat Katie Hobbs as a “coward” for refusing to debate her. Hobbs refused then, saying Lake only brought “chaos” to a debate after a Republican primary debate that drew criticism as disorganized.

In a written statement, Lake’s campaign said Thursday that she “already participated in an hour-long debate forum with her primary opponents last month. She is up 30 (percentage) points in the polls and is focused on defeating (U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz.) and winning Arizona with (former President Donald Trump).”

By skipping the June 26 debate hosted by the nonpartisan Clean Elections Commission, Lamb will have the stage for questions for 30 minutes by himself.

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For months, her team suggested she would participate in a debate overseen by the Arizona Republican Party, but Lamb’s campaign told The Arizona Republic in May that wasn’t happening. The state GOP confirmed it had no plans for such an event.

Lake has given Lamb the silent treatment since she entered the Senate race in October, avoiding any mention of him in public until the May 23 forum hosted by AMAC Action, the political arm of the Association of Mature American Citizens, which casts itself as the conservative alternative to the AARP.

By contrast, she regularly name-checks U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., the only Democrat in the race for the seat held by retiring U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz.

In their forum, Lake attacked Lamb as failing to enforce election laws in his county.

“I have fought for election integrity. I currently have cases in the courts and I know that (Lamb) doesn’t think that I’m a fighter,” Lake said. “There’s not many people who have the ability to fight. I took every hit fighting for security in our elections. Sheriffs have the ability to fight, and the sheriff of Pinal County cowered. He’s a total coward when it comes to election integrity.”

For his part, Lamb said he had no evidence of widespread fraud, a point he made during congressional testimony as well.

Lake, he said, didn’t complain about election problems in her race until she lost the 2022 gubernatorial election, while he hunted for evidence of widespread fraud in his county.

“I don’t think Joe Biden got 81 million votes, but I don’t live in the world of feelings and thoughts. I live in the world of evidence, what you can prove in court beyond a reasonable doubt,” he said. “Any one of these people, including Kari, or any one of them could have brought me the evidence that was actionable in court for me to do something about it.”

Lake has trumpeted her endorsement from former President Donald Trump and has the backing of most Senate Republicans. Lamb has said he has won elections and has experience running a governmental agency.

Last week, nine of the state’s other 14 county sheriffs condemned Lake for her attack on Lamb.

“Kari Lake’s recent comment calling Sheriff Mark Lamb a ‘coward’ is both unfounded and disrespectful. We want to make it clear: neither Sheriff Mark Lamb nor any law enforcement officer who wears a badge and uniform, putting the life on the line every day to protect and serve our communities, is a coward. Arizona voters expect better from a political candidate, especially when they are running for the U.S. Senate.”

The statement was signed by: Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels, Gila County Sheriff Adam Shepard, Graham County Sheriff P.J. Allred, La Paz County Sheriff William Ponce, Maricopa County Sheriff Russ Skinner, Mohave County Sheriff Doug Schuster, Navajo County Sheriff David Clouse, Yavapai County Sheriff David Rhodes and Yuma County Sheriff Leon Wilmot.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Kari Lake refuses to debate Mark Lamb, ending months of questions