Funny how election 'stealing' ceases when Kari Lake wins

In a rational world, Primary Tuesday would put an end to 2020’s “Stop the Steal” nonsense. But few consider politics rational, especially here in Arizona.

As the votes rolled in Tuesday night, Karrin Taylor Robson dominated the GOP gubernatorial primary. With an estimated 40% of the votes counted, she led Kari Lake by more than 10 percentage points.

Two hours later and 60% of votes counted, Robson retained a commanding lead of 49% to 41%.

Then, in the wee hours of Wednesday morning, when “no one was watching,” everything had flipped. Once 80% of the votes were reported, Lake led Robson by 1.8%. That’s a swing of 12 percentage points in a few hours.

Hmm ... curious. (OK, not really, but work with me here.)

If Lake's lead holds, she'll win much like Biden did

Consider if the names were reversed. Arizona would face another two years of conspiracy theories, spittle-flinging speeches and condemnations of state officials over a “stolen election.”

Press releases would be issued. Investigations launched. Cyber Ninjas activated.

The audit that wasn't: Cyber Ninjas' emails touch on irony, deceit

Instead, Lake won the GOP nomination much like Joe Biden won Arizona in 2020.

The voting gods have a sense of humor.

Instead of calling for counts, recounts and audits, Lake saw enough by late Tuesday night, despite an estimated 20% of ballots were yet to be counted. “We won today 7 out of 10 election day votes,” she told her supporters on Tuesday night. “There is no path to victory for my opponent and we won this race. Period.”

Guess elections weren't as corrupt as they said?

After the 2020 election, pro-Trump protesters screamed “count the vote!”

How times change.

Lake’s more fervent supporters won’t plunge into conspiracy rabbit holes this time, nor should they. “Stop the Steal” activists won’t allege hacked computers, sneaky software or ballots laced with communist Chinese bamboo.

Lake won, so why challenge the result? But by accepting Tuesday’s results, they’re admitting that our election system isn’t corrupt as they claimed all this time.

On Election night 2020, I too was confused by Biden’s rapid turn of fortune. So, I reached out to vote-counting experts, some staunch conservatives, some anything but. They calmly explained the process. I did a bit of reading and emerged more informed on the other side.

It was bad news for Trump supporters, though in politics, thems the breaks. But a half an hour of research isn’t as entertaining as two years of outrage.

Can we finally leave 2020 behind?

Kari Lake didn’t steal Arizona’s vote any more than Joe Biden did. Now, those who pushed the conspiracy theories need to explain why this election was legit and the other wasn’t.

The election process hasn’t changed much. Arizona still has mail-in ballots, voting sites still use felt-tip pens, and election night still features an achingly slow vote count. (Seriously, someone needs to fix that.)

Public officials haven’t changed their perspective since the presidential election. Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, was secretary of state then and now. Stephen Richer, a Republican and staunch defender of the 2020 results, presided over Maricopa County’s vote on Tuesday. Either both turned “ultra MAGA” or the election wasn’t stolen, then or now.

The real trick now for Lake and other Trump-endorsed primary winners is a sharp pivot to the general. Fever dreams about The Donald’s loss still sell with a large chunk of Arizona’s GOP base, but it pushes away other Republicans, most independents and all Democrats.

Time for the GOP nominees to leave 2020 behind and focus on what all Arizonans care about: inflation, recession and the miserable performance of Democratic-dominated Washington. That might annoy the tinfoil-capped voters who won them their primaries, but it’s the only way to win the general.

Jon Gabriel, a Mesa resident, is editor-in-chief of Ricochet.com and a contributor to The Republic and azcentral.com. On Twitter: @exjon.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Kari Lake won, so can we give election 'stealing' a rest?