Journalists’ Roundtable: Debbie Lesko, Kari Lake, Mark Finchem and more

It’s Friday, and that means it’s time for another edition of Journalists’ Roundtable. To discuss the week’s top stories, we were joined by Howie Fischer with Capitol Media Services, Laurie Roberts with The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, and Camryn Sanchez with Arizona Capitol Times.

This week’s Journalists’ Roundtable covered:

• Debbie Lesko not running for re-election
• Kari Lake and Mark Finchem loose in court again
• Kari Lake backing off abortion stance
• Kyrsten Sinema gains seat on the Appropriations Committee
• Lawmakers threaten ASU funding

Debbie Lesko not running for re-election

Laurie Roberts: “I don’t see a whole lot of people resigning those positions of power because they’re frustrated. I got to give Debbie Lesko credit. She says Washington’s broke, and she’s absolutely right. She says it’s not worth her time anymore, but I don’t see her colleagues taking that same position.”

Howie Fischer: “She also has a ninety-four year old mother; traveling back and forth from Washington has to be a real hassle. She has a family, husband, children and grandchildren.”

Camryn Sanchez: “It was a surprise to me when she said that she wasn’t running. I heard that she talked to Ben Toma before she announced that she was leaving and asked if he was interested. Then there were other rumors about Blake Masters. I expect at least 2 or 3 Republicans are going to run.”

Kari Lake and Mark Finchem lose in court again

Howie Fischer: “The whole basis of this argument presented before the 2022 election is that tally machines are not reliable, and they are hackable. Therefore, we should require a mandatory hand count. The judge said you need your own proof as opposed to what Kari Lake is doing in her own case, in saying this could happen.”

Laurie Roberts: “Hand counting would take a lot more time, more expensive, and it’s notoriously unreliable.”

Camryn Sanchez: “Everyday I wake up, and there’s more and more. I dream of a day when it ends.”