Liz Cheney’s PAC airs ad urging Arizona voters to reject GOP candidates Kari Lake and Mark Finchem

By Maeve Reston, CNN

Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney is putting money behind her vow to do everything she can to prevent election deniers from winning in November, as her political action committee announced Friday that it is spending $500,000 on an ad urging Arizona voters to reject GOP gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake and Republican Secretary of State nominee Mark Finchem.

Both Lake and Finchem won the GOP nominations after echoing former President Donald Trump’s lie that the 2020 election was stolen, and Lake refused to pledge that she would accept the 2022 election results during a recent interview with CNN’s Dana Bash.

In several public appearances, Cheney has warned Arizona voters that they will play a critical role in “ensuring the future functioning of our constitutional republic” — noting that election deniers like Lake and Finchem could create havoc in the 2024 presidential election in a swing state that could determine the next occupant of the White House.

The new ad features Cheney, the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, at a recent appearance noting that she could not recall if she has ever voted for a Democrat, but telling her audience that she would this year if she lived in Arizona.

“You have a candidate for governor, Kari Lake, you have a candidate for secretary of state, Mark Finchem, both of whom have said that they will only honor the results of an election if they agree with it,” Cheney says in a clip from her recent appearance at a McCain Institute event at Arizona State University’s campus in Tempe.

“And if you care about the survival of our republic, we cannot give people power who will not honor elections.”

Cheney’s new PAC, The Great Task, a multi-candidate PAC that she sponsored, said that the $500,000 media buy in Arizona will air the ad on broadcast, online and streaming platforms.

Lake responded to Cheney on Friday in a letter posted on Twitter, thanking her for “a generous in-kind contribution” to her campaign.

“Your recent television ad urging Arizonans not to vote for me is doing just the opposite,” Lake said. “Our campaign donations are skyrocketing and our website nearly crashed from traffic as people rushed to learn more about my plan to put Arizona First and join our historic political movement.”

CNN has reached out to Finchem’s campaign for comment.

This story has been updated with additional details.

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CNN’s Shawna Mizelle and Aaron Pellish contributed to this report.