Republican Myron Lizer, a former Vice President of the Navajo Nation, announced his endorsement of Arizona GOP Senate Nominee Kari Lake in a statement released Wednesday.
In the statement provided to AZ Free News, Lizer wrote, “Having Kari Lake’s support for our community as a senator is invaluable and incredibly encouraging to see this as an opportunity for increased congressional engagement with the Navajo Nation. Her presence here is not just symbolic; it reflects her genuine commitment to our people and our issues. Kari Lake has unfinished business, and I wholeheartedly welcome her continued presence and efforts on behalf of the Navajo Nation as she runs for Senate.”
I am honored to be endorsed by small business owner and the 10th Vice President of the Navajo Nation, Myron Lizer.
For far too long, our native community has been ignored by congressmen and senators who delivered them NOTHING but broken promises. Under the America First policies… pic.twitter.com/mY2adcufKC
Lake responded in a post to X thanking Vice President Lizer. She wrote, “I am honored to be endorsed by small business owner and the 10th Vice President of the Navajo Nation, Myron Lizer.
For far too long, our native community has been ignored by congressmen and senators who delivered them NOTHING but broken promises. Under the America First policies of President Trump, our tribes flourished. They can and will have that peace and prosperity again.
Myron supports me because he knows I will be a strong voice for ALL Arizonans, including our native community, in Washington DC.”
Lizer and other Navajo Nation leaders met with Lake, Congressman Eli Crane (R-AZ02), and campaign officials for President Donald Trump at St. Michaels, Arizona, on Tuesday, describing the event on X as “a great night… on the Great Navajo Nation!” He tagged Crane and Lake saying, “you all have tremendous support up here in northeastern AZ!!”
Lizer shared photos of the event and a post from the Trump campaign’s Kally Rael who wrote, “@TeamTrump, @KariLake and @EliCraneAZ met with Navajo Nation leaders from around the tribe for an intimate discussion on Navajo history, conservative values and the negative impacts caused by the incompetency of the Biden/Harris administration. A special thank you to Mr Tom Ranger and @NN_MyronLizer such a wonderful evening. Yéigo Trump!”
Lizer, served as Vice President of the Navajo tribal government from 2018-2023 under former Navajo President and Democrat Jonathan Nez. He is a well-known supporter of President Donald Trump and launched the Native Americans for Trump coalition in Williams, Arizona, with Donald Trump, Jr. in 2020. Nez is currently running to unseat Congressman Eli Crane (R-AZ) in the second district. Lizer launched a primary campaign against Crane but did not gather enough signatures to appear on the ballot.
Sheriff Mark Lamb of Pinal County, a Republican hopeful for U.S. Senate, issued a press release on Wednesday extolling the virtues of the law enforcement agencies responsible for the capture of eight terrorists tied to ISIS who had illegally entered the country and excoriating the Biden White House for its maladministration of the dangerous situation at the Southern Border.
In his release, Lamb’s office explained that the Sheriff offered his congratulations to “law enforcement at every level in the tracking and arrest of eight terrorists with ties to ISIS who had managed to cross the southern border in recent months.” As reported by The New York Post six of the ISIS-linked terrorists were Russian nationals from Tajikistan, and were arrested during coordinated raids in Los Angeles, New York and Philadelphia. Per NBC two additional terrorists with links to ISIS were also arrested after they were surveilled for “several months” by the Joint Terrorism Taskforce.
Lamb said in a statement, “One week after Joe Biden’s executive order was issued to ‘close the border’, I can report that the situation on the ground is just as chaotic and dangerous as ever.”
He warned, “the arrests of the terrorists in our major cities is just the tip of the iceberg. Those Russian nationals were identified and tracked. There are countless military-aged men who have already made their way across the border illegally and continue to do so. We have little or no idea where they reside and what they are planning.”
Cartels are pushing people through the southern border ‘more than ever’: Mark Lamb | https://t.co/UwDuys4pee
According to the Post, FBI Director Christopher Wray issued warnings to Congress regarding a potential plot on U.S. soil at the hands of ISIS-K or Islamic State Khorasan, the same group that successfully attacked a concert hall in Moscow with Tajikistani nationals killing 145 people and wounding hundreds.
“Our most immediate concern has been that individuals or small groups will draw twisted inspiration from the events in the Middle East to carry out attacks here at home,” Wray told the House Appropriations subcommittee in April. “But now, increasingly concerning is the potential for a coordinated attack here in the homeland, akin to the ISIS-K attack we saw at the Russia concert hall a couple weeks ago.”
Lamb noted that his Deputies recently made a significant drug bust working in coordination with the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol saying, “My deputies just took 80 pounds – 360,000 pills – of fentanyl and 9 nine pounds of cocaine off the street. Can you imagine the millions of people who would likely die if that fentanyl had made it in hands of Americans.” He added, “The border shouldn’t be a photo-op for politicians. Every state is now a border state, every county is a border county. Every school and neighborhood is a fentanyl war zone. We can close the border if the politicians in Washington wanted. The political establishment has shown they don’t have the willpower or experience on the ground to make it happen.”
GOP Senate candidates Kari Lake and Mark Lamb traded barbs this week over their views of one another’s handling of the 2022 election.
Lake and Lamb confronted one another during an online forum hosted by the Association of Mature American Citizens (AMAC) Action last week. The panel was not meant as a debate — Lake recently refused to do a formal debate with her primary opponent — but it ultimately turned into one.
Lamb accused Lake of “surrendering to the establishment,” and that her lack of public service experience made her unsuitable for office.
“It’s easy to talk about it if you’ve never served, it’s another thing to actually do it,” said Lamb. “I’ve actually had to make hard decisions. I’ve been in there when we’ve had to stand up against COVID and say we’re not doing the lockdowns, we’re not doing the mask mandates, we’re not doing the vaccines.”
Lake accused Lamb of cowardice for not using his law enforcement authority to pressure a change of outcome in the 2022 election, where she lost her gubernatorial race to Governor Katie Hobbs. Lake further claimed that law enforcement leaders submitted proof of election fraud to Lamb.
“I took every hit fighting for security in our elections. Sheriffs had the ability to fight, and the sheriff in Pinal County cowered, and he’s a total coward when it comes to election integrity,” said Lake.
Lamb speculated that Lake began calling him names because his assessment of her “touched a nerve.” The sheriff said that Lake was telling lies about his handling of mismanaged elections, clarifying that Pinal County fired those responsible for the underprinting of ballots, and established cameras and citizen monitors of drop boxes.
“Yes, we didn’t print enough ballots [in 2022] in Pinal County, and guess who didn’t complain about it because she won the primary? Kari didn’t. It didn’t matter to her until the general election,” said Lamb.
Lamb said that no one has been able to provide him with evidence of widespread fraud, but that he doubted President Joe Biden received as many votes as reported.
“I live in a world of evidence, what you can prove in court beyond a reasonable doubt,” said Lamb. “Any one of these people, including Kari, could’ve brought me the evidence that was actionable for me in court to do something about it.”
In a press release responding to Lake’s attacks, Lamb said Lake was a “bully” with a bold disrespect for the rule of law. Lamb disputed that Lake or any others presented to him any evidence indicating widespread material of fraud.
“Kari’s use of the word ‘coward’ is a slap in the face to every man and woman that upholds our laws and wears a badge and uniform,” said Lamb. “Her blatant disregard for the rule of law is not what Arizonans would expect someone running for the United States Senate to ever say, especially during what was supposed to be a civilized political discussion.”
Lamb added that Lake was lashing out at others for losing the election.
“I took an oath of office to support and defend the U.S. Constitution and uphold law and justice,” said Lamb. “I have to deal with facts, not opinions or feelings. I get it. Kari Lake is upset she lost her election. It’s time she takes some personal responsibility for losing an election she was supposed to win.”
The most recent polls show Lake trailing Democratic congressman Ruben Gallego in the race. Former President Donald Trump endorsed Lake.
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Last week, Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) revealed that he doesn’t believe there should be a wall along the entire border.
In an interview with Fox News last Thursday, Kelly said that technology was better than a barrier at some parts of the border. He added that saving money was more important than a complete border wall, too.
“I’ve spent a lot of time on our southern border. And it didn’t take me long to realize that different parts of our border need a different approach,” said Kelly. “In some places we need physical barriers, especially near population centers like Yuma, Nogales, Douglas, El Paso[.] In other places technology is more important, it’s more cost-effective.”
That doesn’t mean the senator disapproved of Governor Doug Ducey’s emergency completion of the border wall sans federal approval
The day before admitting his sentiment on a comprehensive border wall, Kelly signaled approval of Ducey’s initiative in an interview with KTAR. Kelly also acknowledged that the border situation was a crisis.
“I understand the governor’s sentiment on this and why he wanted to do that,” said Kelly. “There’s a crisis at the border and it’s important to address it.”
2️⃣ more border wall gaps near Yuma are CLOSED 🚫
Arizona’s fast and efficient border barrier mission will help law enforcement better control and maintain safety at the border. pic.twitter.com/OosUToqSwo
Kelly has consistently voted against total completion of the border wall since President Joe Biden took office. Last February, both Kelly and Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) voted against an amendment prohibiting cancellation of the border wall construction contracts. Earlier this month, Kelly and Sinema joined their entire party to vote against numerous border security provisions such as wall completion the week prior.
Ira Mehlman, media director for the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), told AZ Free News that Kelly’s votes earlier this month against including border security provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), such as funds to finish the border wall, confirmed that the senator isn’t truly in favor of securing the border.
“Actions speak louder than words. There was an opportunity for every one of the 50 Democrats to demonstrate how they felt about border security,” said Mehlman. “Kelly’s obviously trying to walk a fine line here. He understands that what’s happening is not popular in Arizona, but he does need a political base that he does need to turn out. That might be behind the Biden administration’s sudden willingness to do some more construction on the wall.”
Kelly’s public remarks compared to his voting would also explain his approach with Sinema to support niche border security efforts, such as increased funding for Border Patrol staffing and management announced in March, but not completion of the border wall.
Kelly took credit for the Biden administration’s promise last month to close border wall gaps by the Morelos Dam, which abuts Yuma.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
Following Tuesday’s primary election win, Republican Senate candidate Blake Masters appears to have shifted his campaign tone to appeal to independent voters. That base of “other” voters is the second largest, a close second to registered Republicans.
In a campaign video released Wednesday, Masters’ descriptors now read “independent.” Past videos displayed prominently former President Donald Trump’s endorsement, as well as his features on right-leaning networks like Fox News and conservative pundits’ shows, such as those hosted by Ben Shapiro and Steve Bannon.
In the video, Masters’ wife asserts that America’s heading down a bad path, narrating a smiling Masters playing with his children.
“He’s in it because he loves his country so much, and he loves his state so much. He would make Arizona so proud,” said Catherine.
Masters’ tone shift likely has to do with the increase in Arizona’s independent voters. There are more independent than Democratic voters, and their base comes in a close second to Republican voters.
The secretary of state’s latest voter registration data reported well over 1.4 million Republicans (34 percent), slightly over 1.4 million “other” voters (33 percent, which includes independents, those without a party preference, and those without a major party), and under 1.3 million Democrats (31 percent).
Masters won Tuesday’s primary with slightly over 39 percent of the vote (over 250,800 votes). Candidate Jim Lamon came in second with nearly 29 percent of the vote (under 185,000 votes), and Attorney General Mark Brnovich came in third with over 18 percent of the voter (over 117,300 votes).
Candidate Mick McGuire earned under 9 percent of the vote (under 56,600 votes), and Justin Olson earned over 5 percent (over 32,800 votes).
Altogether, voters who participated in the Republican primary totaled about 642,500. That’s just over 1 percent of all registered voters, and over 22 percent of Republican and “other” (includes independents) combined.
Masters will face off against the incumbent, Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ), who was uncontested in his election. Kelly pulled just under 495,500 votes.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
