Milwaukee County Republican Party hosts Arizona election denier Kari Lake at fund-raising event

WAUWATOSA - Election denier turned Republican star Kari Lake brought her political show to Milwaukee on Friday.

Lake, who ran for Arizona governor last year, narrowly lost and falsely claimed she was a victim of election fraud, has turned defeat into a second political act.

"To the deep state, to the powers that be ... I'm the most dangerous politician in America," she said of how she's been portrayed, speaking during a luncheon speech at a Milwaukee County Republican Party fundraiser at a Wauwatosa hotel.

She referred to those she said "stole" her election as "traitors," said she was "going to fight this corruption," and lauded former President Donald Trump, claiming "he will be our next president."

"If you do not respect Donald Trump, you've been the massive victim of a brain-washing operation," she said.

Lake, an Iowa native, talked up her Wisconsin roots: her grandmother lived in Elm Grove, both her parents grew up in Prairie du Chien, her brother lives in Wauwatosa and she often spent summers in the Badger State.

She told the crowd of more than 200 people that they had a lot in common, “being from a rotten election county like Maricopa County. And I know you all understand what I’m talking about. We’re kindred spirits because we’ve been done wrong. And we’re not going to take that anymore."

Among those in the audience were GOP chairman Brian Schimming, state Rep. Janel Brandtjen and Robert Spindell, a member of the Wisconsin Elections Commission who in 2021 signed paperwork claiming to be a state elector for Trump.

Hilario Deleon, who chairs the Milwaukee County Republican Party, said Lake was already coming to the state when her team reached out to him to set up the event. She's promoting her new book, "Unafraid."

"She's doing this for free," Deleon said. "She wants the grassroots to succeed."

Tickets for the event cost at least $55 and included a free book.

Democrats criticize the state GOP for hosting Lake

A Democratic Party of Wisconsin spokeswoman chided Republicans over Lake's appearance.

"The Wisconsin GOP is clearly still enamored with Donald Trump’s election lies, and inviting election denier Kari Lake to Milwaukee is just icing on the cake," Haley McCoy said in a statement. "If the Republican Party wants to remain beholden to election deniers and conspiracy theorists, that’s their prerogative, but it won’t win them support — or elections — any time soon. Just ask Kari Lake."

Lake is a former television newscaster who rose to political prominence in Arizona as a fierce defender of Trump. She lost to Democrat Katie Hobbs in 2022, never conceded defeat and failed in her legal battle to overturn the result.

Her political future is unclear. Lake appears to be weighing a run for U.S. senator in Arizona next year but there are suggestions she may be angling for a spot on the national ticket as Trump's vice presidential nominee.

She has been a frequent visitor to Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club and on Thursday night was seen alongside the former president at his Bedminster, N.J. country club.

In 2022, Lake called for Wisconsin to "decertify" its 2020 election results despite to move being impossible and illegal if attempted by election officials.

Biden defeated Trump in Wisconsin by about 21,000 votes — a result that has been confirmed by judges, a nonpartisan state audit, a conservative study, and two recounts paid for by Trump.

In an interview this week on WIBA-AM with conservative talk show host Vicki McKenna, Lake repeated false claims about the 2020 election in Wisconsin, calling it "rigged."

Last month, a top Republican election official in Arizona filed a defamation suit in Maricopa County Superior Court against Lake, her campaign and her political fundraising group.

In the suit, Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer accused Lake of spreading lies over the election results and that he and his family "have been the target of threats of violence, and even death. and have had their lives turned upside down."

“Rather than accept political defeat, rather than get a new job, she has sought to undermine confidence in our elections and has mobilized millions of her followers against me,” Richer wrote in an opinion piece for The Arizona Republic.

The Associated Press reported that the suit "takes issue with two claims in particular — that Richer intentionally had 19-inch ballot images printed on 20-inch paper, causing counting problems, and that he injected 300,000 bogus ballots. It details nearly three dozen times she made the claims publicly on social media or at rallies and news conferences."

Journal Sentinel reporter Molly Beck contributed.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee County Republicans host Arizona election denier Kari Lake