Journalists’ Roundtable: Kari Lake, Ruben Gallego debate and more

It’s Friday, which means it’s time for another edition of Journalists’ Roundtable. This week, we were joined by Jim Small of Arizona Mirror, Camryn Sanchez of KJZZ and Howie Fischer of Capitol Media Services.

This week’s Journalists’ Roundtable topics included:

• U.S. Senate debate between Ruben Gallego and Kari Lake
• Gallego’s divorce records
• Harris and Trump campaigns in Arizona
• Early voting starts
• Harmeet Dhillon and GOP election group
• Finchem claims access to federal database

U.S. Senate debate between Ruben Gallego and Kari Lake

Jim Small: “I think it really kind of showed you the difference between candidates. I think both sides claimed victory. I spent the last 36 hours receiving emails from both sides talked about how great they did and how terrible their opponent did, but I think really at the end of the day, I think it showed the difference in demeanor and in policy positions between these two candidates if there were any voters out there who didn’t understand the differences, and they watched this debate, I think that they’re going to walk away from it understanding who these folks are.”

Camryn Sanchez: “One thing she can say in her favor is that she got to speak more. It certainly seemed like she was the one who commanded most of the time. maybe the moderators, you know, depending on who you ask, didn’t reign her in that much and so she sort of talked over Gallego and inserted herself a lot and drew the conversation back to what she wanted to talk about.”

Gallego’s divorce records

Howie Fischer: “As we know, Ruben and Kate filed for divorce in Yavapai County in 2012. They both live in Maricopa. They didn’t want it known. I mean, obviously it’s going to be obvious they were divorced. I mean, he got remarried. I think they didn’t want to make an issue of it, they’re both politicians and they figured let’s just keep it quiet.”

Camryn Sanchez: “I think their reason was they wanted to protect the kid, that’s what they’re saying. They’re saying we’re concerned that if and when this is made public, it’ll be bad for our child and you know he should be left alone for his sake. I think it’s also possible they don’t want it public for their own sake because they are both politicians and it could be embarrassing or problematic.”