Who Is Kari Lake?
Olivia Norman
Updated on January 01, 2026
Kari Ann Lake is a former television news anchor and American politician born on September 30, 1969.
She left her anchor position at Phoenix television station KSAZ-TV in March 2021 after 22 years of service.
On June 1, 2021, she officially launched her bid for governor of Arizona. She is the Republican candidate for governor of Arizona in 2022.
Early Life
Larry A. Lake, a teacher and basketball and football coach from Richland Center, Wisconsin, and Sheila A. Lake (née McGuire), a nurse from Appleton, Wisconsin, welcomed Lake into the world on September 30, 1969[unreliable source?] in Rock Island, Illinois. The youngest of nine children, she is.
Lake was raised in Iowa. She obtained her high school diploma from North Scott Senior High School in Eldridge, Iowa, and then graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in journalism and communications from the University of Iowa.
Kari Lake Career
Larry A. Lake, a teacher and basketball and football coach from Richland Center, Wisconsin, and Sheila A. Lake (née McGuire), a nurse from Appleton, Wisconsin, welcomed Lake into the world on September 30, 1969[unreliable source?] in Rock Island, Illinois. The youngest of nine children, she is.
Lake was raised in Iowa. She obtained her high school diploma from North Scott Senior High School in Eldridge, Iowa, and then graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in journalism and communications from the University of Iowa.
Kari Lake Political Career
Before switching her registration to become an independent on November 3, 2006, Lake was a Republican Party member.
On January 4, 2008, the day after Obama won the Democratic presidential primary in Iowa, she switched her party affiliation to Democratic.
On January 31, 2012, Lake declared herself a Republican once more. She gave an explanation for why she left the Republican Party in 2006: the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2004 and 2008, she had backed both John Kerry and Barack Obama.
Additionally, she contributed to various Democratic presidential candidates. Lake mentioned former Democrats Donald Trump, Ronald Reagan, and Arizona Republican Party Chair Kelli Ward as examples of people who switched parties after running for governor in 2021.
