Kari Lake and a top GOP senator try to reset Senate race on border security, not abortion

U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake said Friday that Arizona’s newly reaffirmed, Civil War-era, near-total abortion ban is “not the law.”

“We’ve got an (Arizona attorney general) who’s not going to enforce many laws on the books,” Lake, a Republican, told reporters outside her Phoenix campaign offices.

“I find it unfortunate that our AG doesn’t enforce other laws as well, but this is a law, to be honest guys, this is a piece of paper; it’s not the law," she said. "People have been treating it thinking that it is the law, but it’s not the law. There’s no enforcement. It’s not the law.”

Democratic Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes has reiterated her opposition to the 1864 ban and said her office continues to look at its legal options to prevent the ban from taking effect. The ban is the subject of an intense repeal effort by Democrats and some Republicans in the Arizona Legislature.

The national furor over the Arizona Supreme Court’s ruling earlier this month upholding an 1864 state statute that allows abortions only to save the life of the mother has reignited interest in protecting abortion rights and kept Republicans backpedaling on the issue for weeks.

Lake’s comments sought to defuse the abortion issue and came as she wanted to change the subject Friday back to inflation and border security.

Lake cited relatively sluggish economic growth figures released Thursday, and the Federal Reserve released additional data Friday showing persistently high inflation in some corners of the economy. She also reiterated her longstanding complaints of a porous border that allows fentanyl to flood the country.

“We have to do something, and we have to do something serious to get this border under control,” Lake said. Talking to the reporters on hand, Lake later insisted, “If you’re all honest with yourselves, you know that you’re suffering in this economy.”

But several of the questions Lake faced dealt with the state’s shifting landscape on abortion rights that has dominated activity at the Legislature in the weeks since the Arizona Supreme Court ruling.

Lake’s own comments on the subject have only fueled discontent among conservatives who see the Republican front-runner as taking conflicting positions on the matter.

U.S. Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., the party’s whip in Washington, stood alongside Lake, in a now-familiar scene of top Republicans voicing their support for someone who still faces a GOP primary opponent, Pinal County Mark Lamb.

Lake maintained that her views on abortion rights remain clear: “My goal has always been to save as many babies as possible.” But her recent remarks have complicated the message.

The week of the state Supreme Court’s ruling, Lake distanced herself from it, as did former President Donald Trump.

“If you look at where the population is on this, a full ban on abortion is not where the people are,” Lake said in a five-minute video released from her campaign.

“I never would ever assume that any woman had the same exact feelings that I had or situation I had. We know that some women are economically in a horrible situation. They might be in an abusive relationship. They might be the victim of rape. I agree with President Trump, we must have exceptions for rape, incest and the life of a mother.”

Lake’s view stood in contrast to her 2022 remarks as a gubernatorial candidate, when she said she was “incredibly thrilled” at the prospect of again having the 1864 law define Arizona abortion law.

A few days after her video remarks, Lake struck a less-worried tone on the issue at a housing-themed campaign event.

“Everyone’s fighting about a law that’s not even going to be enforced here in Arizona,” she said. “Even if we have a restrictive law here, you can go three hours that way, three hours that way, and you’re going to be able to have an abortion.”

Confronted in Idaho last week with a message of “profound disappointment” from a group that opposes abortion rights, Lake expressed disappointment that the 19th-century law won’t be enforced.

“The Arizona Supreme Court said this is the law of Arizona. But unfortunately, the people running our state have said we’re not going to enforce it, so it’s really political theater,” she said in an interview with the conservative Idaho Dispatch. “We don’t have that law, as much as many of us wish we did.”

The Arizona House of Representatives voted Wednesday to repeal the 1864 measure after initially failing to muster any support from Republicans in the GOP-controlled chamber. The state Senate is expected to take a similar vote next week and send it to Gov. Katie Hobbs, a Democrat who has said she supports repealing the law.

Asked to clarify her view of a law she has previously said is “out of step with Arizonans” and said is “unfortunately” not being enforced, Lake said she supports abortion exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother.

Thune also sought to steer his comments to the economy and the border.

He rattled off complaints against U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., the only Democrat on the ballot in the race to replace the retiring U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz.

“Voters in Arizona have a very clear choice,” he said. “Gallego is the open-borders candidate. He is someone who’s for higher taxes, more regulations, more federal spending, less energy independence.”

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Kari Lake and John Thune want to talk about immigration, not abortion