Kari Lake a fundraising foil for Gov. Katie Hobbs — one year after election

The fundraising pleas have been plentiful.

"I’ll be working to ensure we keep Donald Trump out of the White House, keep Kari Lake out of the Senate, and flip our state legislature blue," read a Nov. 5 email.

"Your $5 will also help us respond to any incoming attacks from extreme Republicans — including Kari Lake, who just announced her campaign for Senate,” came the Oct. 15 request.

"Rush a $10 donation now before Kari Lake’s launch event next week to send Kari a message: Extremism lost last year, and it will lose again,” an Oct. 4 email said.

It is not Lake’s opponents in the race for U.S. Senate that are hitting send on those requests, however.

They’re the call to action from Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs’ campaign fundraising operation, which in recent months has increasingly keyed in on her former opponent for the Governor's Office to fill Hobbs’ own bank accounts.

As Lake fundraises off her continued and repeatedly dismissed claims that she won the governor’s race last year, Hobbs is banking on fear of Lake’s brand of GOP politics. In politics’ endless pursuit of dollars, the former gubernatorial foes are feeding off the other financially.

Hobbs explained the strategy with a bit of hyperbole, noting she wasn’t alone.

“If you look at every fundraising email from every Democratic candidate or everyone who ever thought about running for office anywhere, not even just in Arizona, but in the country, they're all fundraising off Kari Lake,” Hobbs said. “It's not unique to my situation, and she certainly is also fundraising off continuing to fight me in court. A losing battle. "

The governor’s approach points to Lake as the latest boogeyman in a world of hyper-partisan and increasingly nationalized politics. Others like former President Donald Trump, former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., have names turned into fundraising fodder by candidates with whom they'll never appear on the same ballot.

Lake’s newfound prominence among those peers stems not only from her zip to superstardom among Trump-loyal primary voters, but also Arizona’s prominence on the national stage as one of just a handful of swing states.

“This is a kind of messaging that really animates the Democratic base,” said Tom Hollihan, a University of Southern California professor who studies political communication. “But the calculation is that it also appeals to independent and non-party affiliated voters who may lean one way or the other. Particularly suburban women I think are showing increasing anxiety about the disruptive character of the Trump era.”

Branding Lake as the picture of Trump’s Make America Great Again movement can appeal outside of the Grand Canyon State, and to both Democrats and Republican grassroots donors. Lake spoke at a GOP fundraiser in Colorado and has plans for another in Nebraska, and she posted the most lucrative fundraising day of her gubernatorial campaign last November days after her loss. Lake declared the result was "BS."

“It animates not just Arizona money, by the way,” Hollihan said. “It brings in money from all over, because these races are increasingly becoming nationalized, especially trying to preserve the Senate majority, which is so fragile.”

It is unclear how lucrative fundraising off Lake’s name could be. Arizona campaign finance laws do not require any public reporting of fundraising or spending from candidates in the year between elections. Both Lake and Hobbs have separate bank accounts created under sections of Internal Revenue Service code that allow them to keep private some of their financial records. Lake's campaign spokesperson did not return a request for comment.

But if history is a guide, the email campaigns provide a good return on their cost — almost zero when compared to paid advertising. Last year’s gubernatorial race was the most expensive in state history, a money race that political insiders attributed to higher contribution limits, more national attention on Arizona as a swing state, and a shift away from using public funding.

Hobbs’ emails invoking Lake ramped up when Lake’s Senate bid started making headlines across the nation. Three dozen times since then, Lake has appeared in a Hobbs fundraising plea. At times the messages seem as if those donated funds will go directly toward defeating Lake.

"Kari Lake is unfit to lead. If you agree, pitch in today to help us as we fight to keep her extremism out of Arizona for good,” read a Sept. 28 email.

"Can you chip in today to help Katie stop Kari Lake from rising to power and put an end to her MAGA-fueled extremism?” was the Oct. 12 ask.

Hobbs is not expected to spend directly in the Senate race, though she would pitch in to the Arizona Democratic Party’s coordinated campaign as in years past. A coordinated campaign centralizes some efforts, like fundraising and advertising, for candidates in different races.

Hobbs’ campaign manager, Nicole DeMont, noted that many of the fundraising emails that name Lake also speak more broadly to Trump’s and Lake’s ideologies, what DeMont and Hobbs brand as “extremism.”

She said Hobbs is continuing to fight Lake in court, meaning an ongoing fundraising need. A year after Hobbs was declared the winner of the Governor’s Office, Lake is appealing court rulings that found no evidence she won. Lake has refused to concede.

The governor’s stated battle against “extremism” more clearly takes the form of working to unseat GOP majorities in the Legislature next year. Hobbs already pledged $500,000 to the effort, and DeMont declined to provide an updated fundraising figure.

“We will be fighting extremists like her, people that she's supporting, in these races that we care about," DeMont said.

And in that effort, Hobbs has big-name help.

Last month, Hobbs joined forces with prominent Democratic megadonor Jeffrey Katzenberg to launch a new Arizona-focused political action committee to win majorities in the Legislature and flip congressional seats. Katzenberg is a former head of Walt Disney Studios and co-founder of Dreamworks who has been called a kingmaker in Democratic politics. Their joint local effort is dubbed Arizona Communities United.

“I've said from day one that I'll work with anyone who wants to help me pass the agenda that Arizonans elected me to do, and this legislature is not doing it,” Hobbs said at the time.

Reach reporter Stacey Barchenger at stacey.barchenger@arizonarepublic.com or 480-416-5669.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Hobbs taps Lake's 'losing battle' in court to boost fundraising