Former TV anchor Kari Lake announces run for Arizona governor

PHOENIX — Former Valley TV anchor Kari Lake announced Tuesday she is running for Arizona governor and launched a website promoting her candidacy.

Lake, who left Fox 10 in March after 22 years at the station, filed her statement of interest as a Republican.

A statement of interest is a necessary step taken before a candidate can start collecting nominating signatures.

Lake joins state Treasurer Kimberly Yee and Karrin Taylor Robson, secretary of the Arizona Board of Regents, on the Republican side of the race.

Candidates are seeking to replace Republican Gov. Doug Ducey, who can’t run for that position in 2022 because of term limits.

My fellow Arizonans, I have an announcement pic.twitter.com/7D5tE7rwEq

— Kari Lake (@KariLake) June 2, 2021

Lake’s website describes her as a candidate who “stands as a symbol of truth in journalism and represents the growing ranks of journalists who have walked away from the mainstream media market peddling fake news.”

In her resignation video released in March, Lake said she left the journalism industry because “I don’t like the direction it is going. …I’m sure there are other journalists out there who feel the same way.”

Former Nogales Mayor Marco Lopez is the only Democrat with political experience to have launched a campaign for governor, but Political analyst Emily Ryan of Phoenix-based Copper State Consulting speculated on May 18 that big names such as Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego and U.S. Rep. Greg Stanton could join him.

Ryan also believes Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich could join the race on the Republican side.

“I expect it to be crowded on both sides,” Ryan said.

KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Jeremy Foster contributed to this report.

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