Kari Lake Calls for Arizona GOP Chair’s Resignation Following Damning Recording

(UnitedHeadlines.com) – Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake is calling for the Arizona Republican Party chairman Jeff DeWit to resign after a secret recording of him offering Lake money in exchange for her staying out of the state’s 2024 Senate race was released.

In the recording, released by The Daily Mail, Dewit allegedly tells Lake that “powerful people” from the “east” want to keep Lake out of the race. He then asks her if there is “a number at which” before Lake cuts him off, saying, “I can be bought?” Dewit then tells her she can “go right back to what you’re doing” if she takes a couple of years off. Lake responds, stating she would not even accept a billion dollars to exit the race.

Lake responded to the leaked audio recording while attending former President Donald Trump’s New Hampshire primary victory party, calling for DeWit to resign.

Lake is not the only one calling for DeWit’s resignation. On Jan. 21, Maricopa County Republican Party chairman Craig Berland also called for DeWit’s resignation. He said if the audio recording “is, in fact, true,” then DeWit should resign.

On Jan. 24, DeWit announced his resignation and stated the conversation occurred 10 months ago in Lake’s home, when she was an employee of his private business. In a post on Twitter, he said he believes Lake set him up so that she can “have control over the state party.” He went on to accuse Lake’s team of blackmailing him into resigning. He said her team told him to “resign today or face the release of a new, more damaging recording.” He added that the talk with Lake was “intended to offer perspective, not coercion,” stating he also told Lake to run in 2026 for the governor’s office instead of the Senate seat.

DeWit, who worked as the chief operating officer for Trump’s 2016 and 2020 campaigns and as NASA’s chief financial officer, has been the chairman of the Arizona Republican Party since January 2023.

Lake is running for the seat held by independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema. The leading Democratic candidate running for the seat is US Rep. Ruben Gallego.