Press Releases
Analysis: Corporate Interests Gave Over $200K to Perpetual Election Deniers Kari Lake and Mark Finchem
WASHINGTON, DC – Arizona politicians Kari Lake and Mark Finchem both undermined democracy when they spread false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump. And now they are pushing the same kind of tired, baseless lies about their own shortcomings with voters in the recent election. Government watchdog Accountable.US challenged the corporate interests that supported their campaigns to come clean with their consumers, investors and employees whether they support more of the same election denialism that sows distrust in our democratic institutions. A new analysis from Accountable.US found corporate interests donated over $200,000 to Lake and Finchem despite their embrace of the Big Lie – including the Arizona Dairymen PAC, Homebuilders Association Of Central AZ, and the CEO of Ryan LLC.
On November 14, Lake questioned the legitimacy of the election, tweeting “Arizonans Know BS When They See It.” And Mark Finchem – perhaps best known for attending the “Stop The Steal” rally that precipitated the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol – has called for “more lawsuits” challenging his election loss.
We’ve seen this movie about baseless election conspiracies before, and it ended with a senseless and violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol – where Mark Finchem happened to be photographed nearby. Where are the corporate special interests that supported the campaigns of election-denying politicians in Arizona? If CEOs and corporations that do business in Arizona support more unfounded, unhinged attacks on the legitimacy of this election that was decided by more than a 10,0000-vote-margin – they should be honest about it with their customers and investors. This is their chance to make their voices heard in support of a healthy democracy. Or they can sit on the sidelines and let their donations towards election denialism speak for themselves and let their customers vote with their wallets.”
