Kari Lake facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Kari Lake
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Kari Lake in 2024
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| Director of Voice of America Designate |
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| Assuming office To be announced |
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| President | Donald Trump |
| Succeeding | Michael Abramowitz |
| Personal details | |
| Born | August 23, 1969 Rock Island, Illinois, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican (before 2006, 2012–present) |
| Other political affiliations |
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| Spouses |
Tracy Finnegan
(m. 1991; div. 1993)Jeff Halperin
(m. 1998) |
| Children | 2 |
| Education | University of Iowa (BA) |
Kari Lake Halperin (born August 23, 1969) is an American political figure and former television news anchor. She is expected to become the next director of Voice of America under President Donald Trump. Before this, she was the Republican Party's candidate for governor of Arizona in 2022 and for the U.S. Senate in 2024.
Kari Lake started her career in television in the early 1990s. From 1999 to 2021, she was a news anchor for the Phoenix TV station KSAZ-TV. She left her news job shortly before she announced she would run for governor. She won the Republican nomination with support from former President Donald Trump. Her campaign included making claims about the 2020 presidential election results that were later found to be false. She lost the election for governor to Katie Hobbs by a small number of votes. Lake did not accept the election results and challenged them in court, but her lawsuits were not successful.
In October 2023, Lake announced she would run for the U.S. Senate in Arizona in 2024. She won the Republican nomination but lost the general election to Ruben Gallego. On December 11, 2024, President-elect Trump announced that Lake would be appointed as the next director of Voice of America, which is a U.S. government-funded news service.
Early Life and Education
Kari Lake was born in 1969 in Rock Island, Illinois. Her father, Larry A. Lake, was a teacher and coach, and her mother, Sheila A. Lake, was a nurse. She is the youngest of nine children.
Lake grew up in Iowa. She finished high school at North Scott Senior High School in Eldridge, Iowa. She then earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in communications and journalism from the University of Iowa.
Media Career as a News Anchor
In May 1991, Lake began working as an intern at KWQC-TV in Davenport, Iowa, while she was still in college. She later became a production assistant. In 1992, she joined WHBF-TV in Rock Island as a reporter and weekend weathercaster.
In August 1994, Lake was hired by KPNX in Phoenix, Arizona, as a weekend weather anchor. She later became an evening anchor at KPNX. In 1998, she moved to Albany, New York, to work for WNYT.
Lake returned to Arizona in 1999 and became an evening anchor for KSAZ-TV (Fox 10 Phoenix). During her time at KSAZ, she interviewed important figures like President Barack Obama in 2016 and President Donald Trump in 2020.
In her later years in media, Lake sometimes shared information on social media that was questioned by others. In March 2021, she announced she was leaving KSAZ. The next month, she announced her campaign to run for governor.
Political Career and Party Changes
Changing Political Parties
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Kari Lake was a member of the Republican Party until 2006, when she became an independent. In 2008, she registered as a Democrat. She returned to being a Republican in 2012.
She explained that she left the Republican Party in 2006 because of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. She had supported John Kerry in the 2004 presidential election and Barack Obama in the 2008 election. She also gave money to Democratic presidential candidates. After starting her campaign for governor in 2021, Lake mentioned that other politicians, like Donald Trump and Ronald Reagan, had also changed parties.
Running for Governor in 2022
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In June 2021, Lake officially started her campaign to become the Republican candidate for governor of Arizona in the 2022 election. The current governor, Doug Ducey, could not run again. Four candidates sought the Republican nomination, with Lake and Karrin Taylor Robson being the main contenders.
Lake received support from former President Donald Trump in September 2021. Her campaign focused on claims that the 2020 presidential election was unfair. Lake won the Republican primary election in Arizona on August 2, 2022, winning in all counties.
Views on Public Health Rules
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Lake spoke at events against mask rules. She said that as governor, she would not allow mask and vaccine requirements. She also talked about using certain medicines to prevent COVID-19. Lake stated she had not been vaccinated against COVID-19.
Election Results and Challenges
In October 2022, Lake was asked if she would accept the election results if she lost. She replied that she would win and accept that result.
Arizona's election results were officially confirmed on December 5, 2022. Lake lost to Katie Hobbs by more than 17,000 votes. Lake received 1,270,774 votes, and Hobbs received 1,287,891 votes.
Lake claimed there were problems with ballot printing and long waiting lines in Maricopa County. Election officials in Maricopa County said that some voting machine ballots were printed too lightly to be read by machines. They explained that voters could still cast their ballots by waiting for the issue to be fixed, going to another polling place, or putting their ballot into a secure box to be counted later. The Arizona Secretary of State's office said that every voter was still able to vote.
Hobbs was sworn in as governor on January 2, 2023. An independent investigation into the election issues was completed in April 2023. It found that equipment failure was the main cause of the problems, but there was no clear sign that the issues should have been expected. The report also noted that most voting centers had no problems, and about 94% of ballots were not faulty.
Running for Senate in 2024
On October 10, 2023, Kari Lake announced that she would run for the 2024 United States Senate election in Arizona.
Political Beliefs
Kari Lake identifies as a conservative Republican. In 2022, she described herself as a "Trump candidate," meaning she supports the political ideas and goals of Donald Trump.
Personal Life
Kari Lake has been married to Jeff Halperin since August 1998. They have two children together. Before this, she was married to Tracy Finnegan.
Lake grew up as a Catholic. She later identified as a Buddhist before 2015. As of 2022, Lake identifies as an Evangelical Christian.
Images for kids
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Kari Lake in 2024
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Lake at a campaign event on October 2, 2021, with a thin blue line flag
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Republican primary results for Arizona Governor in 2022.
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Lake at a campaign event in Scottsdale, Arizona, July 5, 2021
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Speaks at the CPAC Hungary in Budapest
See also
In Spanish: Kari Lake para niños
