GOP governor criticizes Trump-backed candidates in Arizona, Pennsylvania

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) on Sunday lambasted Republican candidates running for governor in his home state and in Pennsylvania who have received former President Trump’s endorsement.

Ducey, who is supporting Karrin Taylor Robson in Arizona’s GOP gubernatorial primary, told CNN “State of the Union” co-anchor Dana Bash that his endorsed candidate is the “real conservative” while condemning Kari Lake, who is backed by Trump, for her support of unfounded election fraud claims in 2020.

“Kari Lake is misleading voters with no evidence,” said Ducey.

“She’s been tagged by her opponents with a nickname, ‘Fake Lake,’ which seems to be sticking and actually doing some damage. Karrin Taylor Robson started from zero, and now this is a margin-of-error race.”

The contest is one of many where Trump has put his thumb on the scale to support candidates who back his doubts about the presidential election results.

This year’s elections in Arizona and other swing states will determine many officials who will oversee a potentially contentious 2024 election apparatus.

Trump in Arizona has also endorsed a supporter of his voter fraud claims in the race for secretary of state, Arizona’s top election official.

Trump said last week he has made up his mind about running in 2024 but hasn’t yet decided whether he will announce before or after the midterms.

When asked about Pennsylvania Republican gubernatorial nominee Doug Mastriano — a Trump-backed candidate who has also put forth unfounded claims of election fraud — Ducey, the chairman of the Republican Governors Association, declined to say if the group would support Mastriano.

“We will be looking at this map,” he said on CNN. “We will be looking at the resources we have. And we don’t know what September and October are going to hold.”

But Ducey wasn’t coy about his personal views on Mastriano.

“I think that the people of any state would be better served by a governor who believes in the people, believes that small businesses should be allowed to operate and believes that children should be in classrooms,” Ducey said.

“I also think this election should be about the future,” he added. “I don’t think we should think for one more moment about 2020.”